Jimmy Stewart discovered the power of the gospel while making ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ director says 

Movie fans remember Jimmy Stewart for his role in It’s a Wonderful Life, but the director of a new film about the actor says there was much more to the man behind the character, including the deep faith that guided him and the courage he showed while serving his country in World War II.

Jimmy opens in theaters this weekend, exploring the private side of Stewart that few fans know – from his Hollywood stardom to the cockpit of a World War II bomber and back to the movies as George Bailey. Stewart’s daughter, Kelly Stewart Harcourt, shared her father’s private journal with the filmmaking team and served as an executive producer.

KJ Apa (Riverdale, I Still Believe) stars in the lead role, with Jen Lilley (Days of Our Lives, Paris Christmas Waltz) portraying Stewart’s wife, Gloria.

“What inspired me is this godly man of character who went on this very challenging journey through World War II, came back broken, and then found his spiritual healing through the making of It’s a Wonderful Life, through prayer on that set, and he finished well,” director Aaron Burns (Legacy Peak, Birthright Outlaw) told Heartlander News.

It’s a Wonderful Life eventually became a Christmas classic, but it lost money during its initial theatrical run after opening in 1946 and received no Oscar wins despite five nominations.

For Stewart, however, making the film helped him find spiritual healing after the war.

“The moments that we got to recreate from It’s a Wonderful Life and the intersection of Jimmy Stewart and George Bailey there really communicate this deep gospel hope that there is for all of us when we cry out to God in prayer,” Burns said.

Lilley said Stewart was “so much more impressive off screen,” where he served his country and built a life with Gloria. Before meeting her, Lilley said, many people thought he would remain a bachelor.

“Nobody ever thought he would get married until he met Gloria,” Lilley told Heartlander News. “I get to play the woman that made him realize a life is worth living and marriage is a wonderful and beautiful thing.”

Burns described Stewart as an “example of the kind of man that I want to be, the kind of legacy that I would like to leave.”

“I see someone who was in really challenging circumstances and responded not with fear, not with selfishness, not with finger pointing or blame shifting, but with courage and with faith, and when his country needed him, he served in war,” Burns said. “And when he came home to a broken world, he served through the stories that he told and the gift he left behind with his films, like It’s a Wonderful Life. … He was a wonderful husband, a wonderful father, and a community member, and faithful in his church, and just left behind kindness. His life was characterized by the fruit of the spirit of kindness, and so I hope that other people like me are inspired to try to live our lives a little bit more like Jimmy did.”

Jimmy is rated PG-13 for some war violence and bloody images, thematic elements and smoking.

(Image credit: Burns & Co.)