Stay Free - Russel Brand - Jim Caviezel & Tim Ballard (Sound of Freedom)

Jim Caviezel and Tim Ballard join me to talk about their new film, The Passion of the Christ, and how they came together to make it. We also talk about how they got into acting and why they wanted to make a film based on the true story of a U.S. Homeland Security agent tasked with rescuing children from human traffickers in South America. We talk about the challenges they faced in making the film and how their faith was a driving force behind their decision to do so. And we talk about what it means to be a Christian in the 21st century, and why it s important to have a faith that is grounded in God's Word. This episode is brought to you by Youaving Wonders, the Awakening Wonders podcast, produced by BBC Radio 4 and BBC Worldwide. To find a list of our sponsors and show-related promo codes, go to gimlet.fm/sponsorships/awakeningwonderings and use the promo code AWAKeningWonders at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase of a copy of the new book, "Awakening Wonders: The Story of Christ" available in Kindle, iBook, Paperback, Hardcover or Hardcover, and on Audible. You can also get 20% off the entire course, including Audible, Audible and Audible courses, at $99.99. Subscribe to Awakenings Wonders. and leave us a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. If you like the show, please consider pledging a five-star review and review in iTunes! Subscribe and review! and we'll be giving you 5 stars! Thank you! You'll get 5 stars and 5 VIP memberships, 5-star reviews, and 7-reviewers get 10-review free of the book "Awakening Wonders - The Passion Of The Christ and Sound of Freedom - $50 off the film "The Passion of The Christ" and The Sound Of Freedom, $99 gets you an ad-free version of the novel "The Gospel According To Me, The Gospel According to Me? and a discount of $150,000 gets you 5-day VIP access to the movie "Auctioned in-between 4 stars and $50, VIP access gets you get 5-of-a-only 3 VIP discount, and $25,000 off the movie gets you a VIP discount only gets you 4-of a VIP 4-place promo code

00:00:00.000 Hello there, you Awakening Wonders.

00:00:01.000 Thanks for joining us on the channel that some are calling the best independent news network on planet Earth.

00:00:08.000 Wow.

00:00:08.000 That's what some people are saying.

00:00:10.000 Who are those people?

00:00:11.000 Me.

00:00:11.000 Yep.

00:00:12.000 Your mum.

00:00:13.000 Her, she's with children.

00:00:14.000 I can't pronounce it, but they're aiming to say stuff like that.

00:00:19.000 Now we are being joined by an actor who is not only pretended to be actual Jesus in Passion of the Christ.

00:00:25.000 Do you remember going to see Passion of the Christ?

00:00:27.000 Yeah.

00:00:27.000 I went and saw it.

00:00:28.000 Very good indeed.

00:00:29.000 When I saw it, something went wrong in the cinema and I had to go and turn the lights on at the back, which isn't normal.

00:00:34.000 What?

00:00:35.000 I saw it in Camden.

00:00:36.000 I went to see Passion of the Christ.

00:00:37.000 It was much more intense than I thought it was going to be.

00:00:38.000 I don't know why I didn't think that the Passion of the Christ would be intense.

00:00:41.000 I mean, I know what Jesus went through.

00:00:42.000 Yeah.

00:00:43.000 The crucifixion, the passion, the lashing, the abuse.

00:00:47.000 The name calling.

00:00:48.000 All just to name a few of the trials of our Lord.

00:00:51.000 Something went wrong in the cinema and I had to turn the light on and I remember being most proud when I said let there be light before I turned the light on.

00:00:58.000 Very good.

00:00:59.000 You feel a little bit like in that moment you slightly became Jesus?

00:01:04.000 I was trying to imply that to the cinema goers of Camden, Camden North London of course, but they didn't come with me on that journey at all.

00:01:13.000 They were much more Jesus is the embodiment of the unknowable and nuministic entity that we call God.

00:01:20.000 He is the potential for all of us to transform and become loving and awakened souls.

00:01:24.000 And if you want someone who's not Jesus to be Jesus, Get Jim Caviezel.

00:01:29.000 Jim's starring in Sound of Freedom, a new film based on the true story of a U.S.

00:01:32.000 homeland security agent rescuing children from human traffickers in South America.

00:01:37.000 We're right interested in it.

00:01:39.000 Primarily I'm interested, of course the subject matter is fascinating, but it's a film that's been made in a different way.

00:01:44.000 It's been funded in a new way, it's been promoted in a new way, and it's had extraordinary mainstream media pushback and some extraordinary Accusations about the motivations of the film and the audience of the film have been made.

00:01:56.000 So all of this is stuff that I'm excited to cover with both Jim Caviezel and Tim Ballard, who Jim plays in the movie, who'll be joining us a little later.

00:02:03.000 Jim, are you there?

00:02:05.000 I am.

00:02:06.000 What's your motivation in making this film, Jim?

00:02:10.000 Is it that you were compelled by the story?

00:02:12.000 Compelled by the issue?

00:02:14.000 I'm assuming you're Christian, Jim.

00:02:18.000 Was your own Christianity a factor?

00:02:20.000 And do you think it's a particularly Christian story?

00:02:24.000 Well, if you want to go to the biblical story, no greater love have you than give your life for another.

00:02:31.000 No greater love.

00:02:33.000 And, you know, I came into depth of that when I was doing the Passion of the Christ.

00:02:41.000 I was electrocuted.

00:02:42.000 I had my shoulder dislocated.

00:02:45.000 I had two heart surgeries, including open heart.

00:02:49.000 I had hypothermia and it infected my lungs.

00:02:53.000 And for about 10 years after that, I struggled.

00:02:57.000 And I wanted to show people a level of Christ that people would feel like they would have an encounter.

00:03:08.000 So I asked God to play me.

00:03:10.000 And that was the difference maker in that film.

00:03:14.000 In the same way in Sound of Freedom, when I met Tim, And what he had been through he has it's that's also a biblical story where you would sell everything you have for that one pearl that Jesus speaks about.

00:03:31.000 And I've you know had the none of the things that can fill you in your heart in this world they it's it's not I felt like This was my service as an actor to help people out and bring them to God.

00:03:56.000 My involvement in this film, I have three children, all adopted.

00:04:01.000 I became very well aware of nefarious activities even in the orphanages and things around the world and the dangers that children undergo.

00:04:15.000 And so I feel like I would, in a heartbeat, give my life for my family or my children and felt that the dangers that they're going to undergo now, and especially within the media that is not giving the truth of what's happening or ignoring it, that I felt that this might be able to do something.

00:04:46.000 And Tim, who's an incredibly special human being, sought me out for this because he saw The Passion, and he saw The Count of Monte Cristo, and those were two films he liked.

00:04:58.000 And I didn't think, you know, being an actor when I was younger, that this is where I was going to end up.

00:05:05.000 But there was something there that was Um, you know, doing The Passion was like climbing Mount Everest on the hardest side of the mountain.

00:05:14.000 And, uh, you know, um, I used to do comedies, Russell.

00:05:18.000 Did you know that?

00:05:20.000 Seems like a stretch today, mate.

00:05:22.000 Sounds like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders.

00:05:25.000 Like, Jim, obviously you're an actor that takes your work incredibly seriously, as all great actors do.

00:05:31.000 perhaps that's one of the ways that I've suffered in that industry.

00:05:35.000 What we'll do, I know that Tim's ready to join us now, but we'll have a look at the trailer for Sound of Freedom,

00:05:41.000 and then Tim Ballard, upon whose story the film is based, will be joining us, and we'll be continuing to talk about

00:05:49.000 Jim as well.

00:05:50.000 You can join us on Locals by pressing the red button.

00:05:53.000 People are saying these are lovely people.

00:05:55.000 That's Primal Colin.

00:05:56.000 This is an important story that needs to be told.

00:05:58.000 People have seen the film and think it's amazing.

00:06:00.000 If you'd seen the film, you'd understand the heaviness, says Rogue Nation.

00:06:04.000 And of course, I've spoken to people involved in this production, and I realize it's an extremely serious subject.

00:06:09.000 We're going to be joined by Tim just after the trailer.

00:06:12.000 Let's have a look at the trailer now.

00:06:16.000 This is the fastest growing international crime network that the world has ever seen.

00:06:22.000 It has already passed the illegal arms trade.

00:06:24.000 And soon it's gonna pass the drug trade.

00:06:27.000 Because you can sell a bag of cocaine one time to the child five to ten times a day.

00:06:34.000 God's children are not for sale.

00:06:40.000 How long you been doing this?

00:06:42.000 12 years now.

00:06:45.000 How many pedophiles you got?

00:06:46.000 288.

00:06:47.000 How many kids you found?

00:06:54.000 We are now joined by Tim Ballard upon who the movie is based.

00:07:00.000 Tim, thank you so much for joining us to talk about Sound of Freedom.

00:07:03.000 How are you today, mate?

00:07:05.000 I'm doing great, Russell.

00:07:06.000 Thanks for having me on your show.

00:07:08.000 Thank you so much.

00:07:09.000 It's an honour to have you.

00:07:10.000 We learned, I personally learned about this film when a friend of mine told me about it a couple of months ago.

00:07:14.000 He told me about the significance of the story.

00:07:17.000 He told me about his personal involvement.

00:07:18.000 he'd met you and he knows about the Railroad project and he was incredibly excited and honoured to be involved.

00:07:25.000 I'll just make sure that I won't publicly say who it is because I'm not sure if I'm supposed to, but...

00:07:29.000 So I've known about your film for a little while.

00:07:33.000 Tim, you're clearly a man who's inspired some very strong feelings,

00:07:37.000 you're clearly a vocational and devoted man, and it's plain that only a person that has direct

00:07:44.000 experience of playing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ would be fit for the job.

00:07:49.000 So that's fantastic casting right off the bat there.

00:07:52.000 We're getting Jim Caviezel on board.

00:07:55.000 Can you tell me a little bit about the process of getting this film made?

00:08:01.000 Tim, tell us how you've come to be in this position and as well touch on stuff and why you believe it's so important that people see Sound of Freedom.

00:08:10.000 Yeah, great.

00:08:10.000 So I spent 12 years as a special agent, undercover operator, and I would get deeper and deeper as the years went on, trying to find the root of the problem.

00:08:19.000 Eventually started getting overseas and started doing overseas operations.

00:08:24.000 And in 2012, 2013, I was working a case in Colombia, got further than I was supposed to get, and they said, come home.

00:08:31.000 And I said, I can't.

00:08:32.000 I've made myself the bait.

00:08:34.000 I've gone too deep.

00:08:35.000 And they said, well, then you have to quit your job if you want to continue the operation.

00:08:41.000 And I did.

00:08:42.000 It was a very difficult decision.

00:08:44.000 And we went ahead, and my wife and I decided to quit.

00:08:49.000 And we finished the operation as, you know, private citizens, if you will.

00:08:54.000 And the operation was enormous.

00:08:56.000 It ended on October 11, 2014.

00:08:59.000 The biggest operation, the biggest rescue operation that I think I've ever heard of.

00:09:03.000 There was over 120 women and children rescued, 15 traffickers arrested.

00:09:08.000 And the mainstream media in the United States, back when they Everybody thought it was still good to say child trafficking is bad.

00:09:15.000 They reported.

00:09:18.000 It's the craziest thing.

00:09:18.000 It was all over the news.

00:09:20.000 Everyone was like, yay, we're helping kids.

00:09:23.000 And one of the producers, Eduardo Verastegui, Alejandro Monteverde, saw that clip of the mainstream media, and that's how they found me, ironically, through the mainstream media, and said, let's make a movie out of this.

00:09:34.000 Nine years later, The same mainstream media is acting like, well, I don't think it really happened.

00:09:40.000 It's the most bizarre twist of events.

00:09:44.000 But that's how it got started.

00:09:45.000 And they came to me and said, who do you want to play you in the film?

00:09:50.000 And right out of the gate, I said, Jim Caviezel.

00:09:52.000 Hands down, Jim Caviezel.

00:09:53.000 And at first, they said they love Jim as an actor, but they wanted someone that looks a little bit like me because they had written into the script kind of this transitional thing at the end where they show real footage.

00:10:05.000 And I said, I don't care.

00:10:08.000 Look, I'm not a big fan of what Hollywood produces. 0.91

00:10:12.000 I think that some of the stuff that's produced there is the reason we have a demand for child sex in the United States.

00:10:20.000 And I know Jim is in, but not of, Hollywood.

00:10:23.000 He loves Jesus.

00:10:23.000 I love Jesus.

00:10:24.000 And that's it.

00:10:25.000 And they said, OK, we'll move forward with Jim.

00:10:28.000 And they know they made the right decision.

00:10:30.000 I'm trying to think who else could have done it.

00:10:32.000 I mean, you gotta have Jim Caviezel.

00:10:34.000 When he flashes that smile, you're in all sorts of trouble.

00:10:37.000 I'm trying to think of what other casting direction you could have gone in there to tell you the truth, Tim.

00:10:43.000 Now, like, of course, yeah, I'm old enough to remember when child sex trafficking was universally condemned.

00:10:50.000 I'm also old enough to remember that when people used to speak about networks of child sex stuff, that it was sort of regarded as a conspiracy theory, then

00:11:01.000 there were some high-profile stories in our country that suggested that there was more truth to

00:11:05.000 it than people had dared to imagine, because it's such a horrific thing for most of us even to

00:11:10.000 contemplate that. Then of course in recent years we've had the Epstein story, which makes it

00:11:15.000 yet more palpable that there appears to be a connection between these most nefarious and, let's

00:11:20.000 say, sort of ghouling and ghoulish activities and the activities of powerful people. And now

00:11:25.000 having spoken to both of you for a few minutes it becomes pretty plain why certain aspects of the

00:11:33.000 media are not willing to promote this film.

00:11:36.000 One I think is because it's an economic model that's outside of their control.

00:11:41.000 It's a promo model that's outside of their control.

00:11:44.000 And it's plain that from just from your most recent answer, Tim, that you believe there's a connection between this type of activity and powerful institutions, shall we say.

00:11:58.000 So evidently there is, you know, now it makes more sense.

00:12:01.000 But what I'd read up to now is that they were saying it's connected to Groups like QAnon and conspiracy theories, but one of the things I've learned over the last few years And I'm certainly not saying I believe I don't believe in anything until this proof I just can't be bothered with the arguments But certainly the last few years have shown me that things that start off as conspiracy theories end up being verified And I pray to God that this is not something that require that gets further verification Tim I want to say mate that obviously you've gone into areas that most people aren't willing to

00:12:33.000 Confront.

00:12:34.000 Most everybody of course is opposed to exploitation and violence or right-minded sane and awakened people of course, but most of us haven't experienced the jagged end of this type of cruelty.

00:12:47.000 It seems that Jim has, it's been difficult for Jim just sort of playing you and going through the process of promoting this film What kind of burden and scars are you carrying?

00:13:00.000 Or do you feel enriched and empowered by the success of the work more than you feel traumatized by the dark side of it?

00:13:09.000 It's a mixed bag.

00:13:10.000 You know, it depends on the day. 0.82

00:13:11.000 I have a million holes in my brain. 0.97

00:13:13.000 You can't watch thousands of hours of small children being sexually assaulted without having some pretty serious damage. 0.97

00:13:23.000 Again, there's a reason I asked Jim to play me.

00:13:26.000 Because that spiritual side is the only place I have found healing.

00:13:31.000 You know, a really cool story.

00:13:33.000 Jim didn't know this.

00:13:34.000 He ad-libbed my favorite line into the movie.

00:13:37.000 He didn't know that was my line for life, my line for my operations.

00:13:40.000 When I'm going into dark places, such that you see depicted in the film, there's a line from the scripture I read to myself over and over again.

00:13:48.000 It's where Jesus stands on little children. 0.98

00:13:51.000 It's the only time perhaps in the Bible where he truly gets violent, even mafioso violent, in his language because he says, I think we kind of pass by this too quickly sometimes when we read the Bible, he says that it's better that a millstone be hung about your neck and you tossed to the bottom of the sea than that you should hurt one of these little children.

00:14:11.000 I mean, that is, it's Jesus, so it's righteous, but it's also mafioso.

00:14:15.000 It's like cement shoes kind of stuff.

00:14:16.000 Right?

00:14:17.000 Like, this is what the mafia does to people when they cross them.

00:14:20.000 Well, this is what Jesus is going to do to you if you cross these little children. 0.99

00:14:24.000 That was important to me because I say to myself when I'm going into dark places, I'm scared.

00:14:28.000 Don't get me.

00:14:28.000 You're going to watch that movie and think I'm some brave guy.

00:14:30.000 I'm no braver than the next guy.

00:14:32.000 I'm scared to death going into these undercover situations where my life's on the line.

00:14:36.000 But I say to myself, Jesus is violently on my side.

00:14:40.000 And that means I can have faith That I can be violently on his side, and we're gonna be okay.

00:14:47.000 And so, in the movie, there's a scene, it's a real scene in a cafe where we arrest this pedophile.

00:14:53.000 In the film, his name is Oshensky.

00:14:56.000 And Jim leans over and ad-libs a line that's not in the script.

00:15:01.000 And he didn't know this was my go-to line.

00:15:04.000 He looks at the pedophile moments before he's about to be arrested, and he says to him, Better than a millstone be hung about your neck and you tossed to the bottom of the sea, than you should hurt one of these little ones.

00:15:14.000 And the actor, who did a phenomenal job, he didn't know what to do because, I mean, Jim's ad-libbing this line, and it seems out of context for a millisecond, and then two seconds later you realize what Jim's doing. 0.95

00:15:26.000 You realize what the actor, Jim, is doing, trying to depict me sending a message to this sick, sick person before he goes down.

00:15:33.000 And That is why Jim Caviezel had to play me.

00:15:38.000 Because that's, to answer your question, that's how I heal.

00:15:41.000 I only heal.

00:15:42.000 I heal during the operation.

00:15:44.000 During the dark moments, I've already begun my process of healing because I bring Jesus and all that Jesus brings and redemptive power from the get-go.

00:15:56.000 So both of you are able to endure these experiences and render them through your connection to a gangster Christ.

00:16:05.000 Christ that's willing to take it to the dark places.

00:16:09.000 This is not the Jesus peacefully with the lamb This is the Jesus with the moneylenders.

00:16:15.000 This is the Jesus with the millstones.

00:16:18.000 So, like, that's pretty serendipitous and synchronous, Jim, that you were able to come up with that line.

00:16:25.000 It's pretty plain that your Christianity directs you as an actor and as a man.

00:16:30.000 How did you bring that to bear on this part, and in particular in that scene?

00:16:37.000 Well, if you go back to the Passion of the Christ, Our makeup artists, Christian Tinsley and Keith Vanderlyn, they were showing, Mel Gibson was showing the Shroud of Turin and it had, when they showed it and put it up on a kind of light that could come through it, you could see all of the track lines in it.

00:17:06.000 The Cat O' Nine Tails, the whips they used on him, and immediately both of them believed that this was real.

00:17:17.000 And then I said, why are you making such a big deal of it?

00:17:20.000 And they said, well, look at his face.

00:17:22.000 There's such a piece to it.

00:17:24.000 And then they pulled, I said, I don't understand.

00:17:28.000 And they pulled this out and you see this picture, this That this is how all of the bodies they use from people that have been decapitated murdered or anything and the way that they when a person dies the face is frozen in that horrible look and you see the face of Jesus on that you see Does this look like a criminal now?

00:17:53.000 when I was doing the so I I the I The work that I was going to do on this, I had to go to those depths because when people watch it in the theater, they're having a personal experience with something internal inside of them.

00:18:12.000 And there was no different than when I was with Tim and I had to go to the places.

00:18:17.000 So I met with Tim originally and then he was busy.

00:18:22.000 I went over to Utah and got to see his whole place where he works and his men and everything.

00:18:34.000 And then I went to other agents that I've known for many years that I went through and started researching all of this stuff.

00:18:42.000 And you couldn't look at this stuff without having some protection in your soul.

00:18:50.000 But what drove me more than anything was my own children and possibly losing them.

00:18:58.000 And so that weaponized me.

00:19:00.000 That made me the, obviously, as you say, the Jesus that was going to be a bit of a thumper 0.96

00:19:06.000 in this one.

00:19:07.000 And so I was, you know, it's, I, even thinking about it right now, it just, I think the children

00:19:24.000 and seeing that it's different than an adult watching something that's older, but it relates

00:19:35.000 to Jesus because he was the most innocent there ever was.

00:19:39.000 And the children are the closest to that.

00:19:41.000 Yes, I've heard it argued that what we're saying about the radiance that comes through the innocent is because they're not fully materialized, fully alloyed to the material world, you can experience God consciousness more through the young, through youth, even with cute young animals.

00:19:57.000 There is a sense that the pure original condition can be experienced more before we Go through the various trials and conditioning that takes place that delivers us into adulthood and often the state of dull conformity that that renders.

00:20:14.000 True Nature's Child says, Jesus the big G. Ian Driamo says, Jim is actually looking a lot more like Tim in this interview than I've ever seen him before too.

00:20:22.000 Didn't recognize him in first, so doing a good job On that front too.

00:20:26.000 Carolyn Joy says, do they think enough is being done by governments and law enforcement to track down the perpetrators of crimes of this nature and prevent future crimes from happening?

00:20:37.000 What do you think, Tim Bard?

00:20:39.000 Oh, Jim's straight in there.

00:20:40.000 Jim ain't mucking about.

00:20:41.000 It's a hard answer from Jim.

00:20:44.000 Go on then, guys.

00:20:45.000 Let me know what you're thinking.

00:20:47.000 Well, let me tell you what's... No, not at all.

00:20:49.000 I mean, first, start with a basic fact.

00:20:51.000 There's about five drug agents in the United States government, for every one anti-child trafficking agent.

00:20:56.000 But it goes much deeper than that.

00:20:57.000 An awareness, by the way, in a republic, theoretically, when the people get loud, we'll see those numbers shift.

00:21:04.000 Tim, Jim, I really appreciate both of you for this devout and serious undertaking.

00:21:11.000 I can see that it's put both of you under incredible strain and I'm really very grateful to you for the work you're doing and that you are obviously continuing to do and for your level of commitment.

00:21:25.000 Thanks for getting up early and joining us.

00:21:26.000 I really appreciate it.

00:21:28.000 Thanks, Russell.

00:21:29.000 Take care, Jim.

00:21:30.000 Take care, Tim.

00:21:30.000 Thank you very much for your time.

00:21:33.000 On the show tomorrow, I'm going to be joined by The Critical Drinker, a very popular and successful YouTuber who shares honest and hilarious critiques of movies.

00:21:42.000 Have you seen him yet?

00:21:44.000 Go away now! 1.00

00:21:45.000 It's absolutely extraordinary.

00:21:47.000 Let's have a look at him right now.

00:21:50.000 Thanks for having me on, man.

00:21:51.000 I can't believe it.

00:21:51.000 I'm sandwiched right between Tucker Carlson and Ron DeSantis.

00:21:55.000 I've got a lot to live up to on this one.

00:21:57.000 You better come up with some pretty powerful right-wing ideology right now!

00:22:02.000 You surely love the critical drinker.

00:22:05.000 A man who has analyzed and critiqued contemporary cinema with a perspective that you're unlikely to see in the mainstream.

00:22:12.000 I think we are definitely stuck in a rut as a culture when it comes to just relying on the past.

00:22:20.000 As you say, the motivation behind these IPs and these franchise movies is no one's willing to take a risk.

00:22:28.000 What they lack with these modern characters that they try to do is that they're not willing to take that step of have them fail and be vulnerable and have flaws and weaknesses.

00:22:36.000 We're going to talk about Sound of Freedom.

00:22:39.000 Why is this movie causing so much controversy?

00:22:42.000 I'm also going to start referring to the Critical Drinker by his actual human name, and I'm going to ask you to remove them aviators. 0.67

00:22:49.000 Not yet!

00:22:49.000 Not while we're still on YouTube!

00:22:55.000 So there you go, that's our show tomorrow.

00:22:57.000 To join our locals community, just press the red button at the bottom of your screen now.

00:23:01.000 You also get first access to interviews like Oliver Stone and Rhonda Santis next week.

00:23:06.000 We do meditations the whole time, loads of stuff about events.

00:23:08.000 We've got a fantastic week for you next week.

00:23:11.000 Join us tomorrow for The Critical Drinker, not for more of the same, oh no, we wouldn't insult you with that, but for more of the different.

00:23:16.000 Until then, please, if you can, stay free.

Stay Free - Russel Brand - July 13, 2023

Jim Caviezel & Tim Ballard (Sound of Freedom)

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