John Corbett opened up about connecting with John O’Leary‘s late father before his death while portraying him in Soul on Fire.
“I really feel like I got to know him a little bit, and then I would have to go over here 10 feet and be him in a scene, knowing he was watching me on a monitor,” Corbett, 64, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, October 1, while promoting his new film, Soul on Fire, which hits theaters next week. “I got used to that pretty quick, but it was a little nerve-racking, because I wanted to do a good job for them.”
In the film, Corbett portrays O’Leary’s father, Dennis, while Joel Courtney plays the iconic motivational speaker. Dennis battled Parkinson’s for three decades until his death in May. He was 80 years old.
Before his passing, Corbett got the chance to meet with him on the set of Soul on Fire. While Dennis “couldn’t really speak” and had a “hard time standing” due to his health battle, Corbett made a conscious effort to form a connection.
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“When I crouched down by him and … he could push out enough for us to talk and have a — and he tried really hard to talk,” he recalled. “We could have a few laughs, and he had a big smile on his face.”
Corbett revealed that O’Leary told him that Dennis was able to see a “few bits” of his portrayal of him.
“I didn’t ask, but John constantly told me how much his dad liked me/loved me, because he was just that kind of a guy, and I felt the same,” the actor explained. “So I wasn’t really worried. I really tried.”
Corbett added that he tried his “best to give a great interpretation,” which he hopes made Dennis proud.
“When you try your best at anything, that’s all you can do, and that’s what it is,” he told Us. “So, I’m just happy that he did get to see it.”
Corbett also joked that he hoped his performance didn’t contribute to Dennis’s cause of death.
“I hope he didn’t die because he saw my performance and then died five minutes after the movie,” he quipped. “I’m making a joke, of course, but I am so happy that he got to see it. Because, you know, we all want to have a movie made of our lives, or somebody we know, we say all the time, ‘They should make a movie about that.’ And they actually did it this time.”
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Soul on Fire tells the story of the tragic fire that left O’Leary with burns covering 100 percent of his body at age 9. The biopic recounts O’Leary’s road to recovery and his journey to becoming a famous motivational speaker. Soul on Fire is also based on O’Leary’s best-selling book, On Fire The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life.
While Corbett wasn’t familiar with O’Leary’s story at first, he was able to understand why the motivational speaker can pack stadiums.
“I didn’t really understand it, but now I do. [When] John speaks, he can fill Madison Square Garden, and people want to hear what he’s got to say,” he reflected. “And so that’s pretty cool.”
Soul on Fire hits theaters on Friday, October 10.
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