Lucas Black: Survival, Fatherhood & Not Being Defined By the Past

Looking for an action-packed adventure that is perfect for the whole family? Legacy Peak is now streaming on PureFlix and stars Lucas Black.

You know Black from the Fast and the Furious franchise, Friday Night Lights and NCIS. In this film he stars as Jason, a man on an adventure to win the hearts of the kids of his soon-to-be fiance. He’s planned a fun trip for them all to fly to the grandparent’s cabin but an unexpected crash occurs making Jason’s plans to quickly dissolve. The three must bond together to survive before they can start a new life as a family together.

We talked with Black about survival, fatherhood, his faith, the importance of community and how to not the let the past define you.

Interviewed for Risen Magazine

Risen Magazine: From your Fast & Furious background, you got the car skills, but the airplane and the ATVs didn’t work out so well in this one. Talk to me about what it was like doing stunts & action.

Lucas Black: Yeah, appreciate that. The ATVs, hey, we have a rough history together. I grew up in Alabama and I had a four wheeler myself and, man, I had quite a few accidents on that thing. But fortunately, I had some skills and was familiar running an ATV. So I was able to do some of those stunts on it in Legacy Peak and especially the drifting scene where I do a big donut and save the kids. So that was awesome. I’m always pleased when I get to do some of my stunts and that was one of them. That was fun.

RM: One of the things that I liked too is the idea of clicking your brain from having a plan, to, okay, now we’re in survival, and those look very different. Talk to me a little bit about how we plan things all the time, but instinct needs to kick in at some point, and sometimes that could be the savior.

LB: Absolutely. And that’s one thing I like about this story too, that Jason Wild gets to use some of his masculine qualities and masculine traits that God has given him to survive and to protect the innocent. And that’s one of the unique things about this story is that he does have a plan. He doesn’t take the passive approach of being a father stepping into this fatherhood role. He had a plan of how he was going to connect with the kids, but that all changed.

God had a different plan for him and what’s cool is in the end, he actually connects with the kids and earns their respect and love in a unique way because he was able to just be spontaneous and actually use those instinctive God-given traits that his creator had given him as a man to save them and to protect them, and they love him for it. So I think that’s definitely a unique part of the story and I love that about it.

RM: I think so many people will connect with is this idea of not letting the past define you. Sometimes there are circumstances that happen that are completely out of your control and then you make the decision on how you build on those or use those towards good in the future. And other times they’re choices that you’ve made that have indirectly defined your future, but not letting that happen is something that takes concerted effort. So maybe talk a little bit about that on the smallest level to the deepest level.

LB: I think Jason’s character, you really get to see the pain of his past. He had a father that left him at an early age, so he had been in and out of several foster homes. And someone had taught him how to better communicate with people. And he used his notebook, he used a list, he created a plan that would help him with that. And that was good, but sometimes he used it too much as a crutch. It was kind of a crutch in his life. So he had a little insecurity there that he really needed to get over and just trust his heavenly father and trust his instincts.

And as long as he was putting God first, he could set aside the notebook a little bit and really just connect with the kids in a special way. And that takes a lot for us to do sometimes, is really let go of our past to know that we’ve been forgiven and healed by our heavenly father, that we can just trust in him and really just relinquish control. And that was hard for Jason and it shows, but it was just special, that redeeming quality in the end, how he was able to let go and really speak life into those kids to really connect with them in a special way.

RM: He had a couple of poignant individuals that came into his life that helped shape his views and outlook. And I felt like your character in turn did that for the kids too. In your own life, personal or career-wise, has there been somebody that’s stepped in or showed up in a big way for you?

LB: Yeah, absolutely. I grew up in a Christian home and very fortunate to have done so, but as I became a young adult traveling around being in the entertainment business, moving out of home, I really didn’t have a spiritual family. I didn’t have men that held me accountable that I did a Bible study with, or I didn’t have a mentor. So I was doing the Christian walk alone and that is very tough. So I failed to temptation. And over the years, I realized that it was because I didn’t have godly people in my life, that I really didn’t have that spiritual family. It was hard to keep up traveling around.

Now I have several men I do a Bible study with and I call one of them a mentor. So I feel I can do life with them. I can ask them questions, anything that’s bothering me or something that comes up or just questions I have about life. I can always go to them for advice and guidance and seek wisdom from them. And that’s something I didn’t have, especially in my young adult years. So that’s just a huge benefit to be able to have someone to go to do life with.

RM: You’re a father. When you do a film like this where you reflect a little bit more, do you come home and look at your kids differently? Do you pat yourself on the back and say, “Oh, I’m so glad I’ve done X, Y, and Z to this point”? What does that look like?

LB: I think that’s the powerful impact that this story can have. It’s really going to make you reflect, I think, and connect with your kids in a special way. What I really love at the end and we’ve always heard the saying that more is caught than taught or you be the example, but I’ve always been a big proponent of the spoken word and verbally affirming to your kids, I think you got to have both. You can’t just model or be the example, you actually have to speak words of life and teach your children the why behind what you do. So Jason, at the end, he really speaks life into these two kids.

He verbally affirms them and tells them that he loves them and that he is proud of them and that they are good at it. So he speaks to each individual and their qualities and gifts and abilities that God has given them and highlights them and verbally affirms them in a positive way. And that’s something that we have to do as parents. We can’t push that to the side. Our kids want to hear that we love them and we can’t assume it. We can’t assume that they know that they need to hear it. So that’s something that I try to implement in my life every day.

Legacy Peak is now streaming on PureFlix