Brody Rose

Acworth Resident Stars in Hit Movie 'I Can Only Imagine'

Acworth resident Brody Rose, 13, plays a major role in the new blockbuster film "I Can Only Imagine," but fame and fortune are far from his mind.

Rose, who has lived in Acworth all his life and attends Praise Academy in Powder Springs, recently obtained a license to preach at churches.

“I hope this movie opens doors for me to do that and helps me bring other people to Christ,” Rose said.

The movie is based on the song “I Can Only Imagine,” the best-selling Christian single of all time, selling 2.5 million copies. The film tells how the song came to be, and about the relationship between the song’s writer, Bart Millard, the leader of contemporary Christian group MercyMe, and his abusive father. The movie explores their rocky relationship and the song writer’s self-doubts, and culminates in hope and redemption when his father finds God after a cancer diagnosis.

The movie far exceeded early box office forecasts for its opening weekend in March, with a surprisingly strong $17.1 million at 1,629 locations in North America, according to Variety. Earlier projections were in the $2 million-$8 million range. The movie was budgeted at $7 million.
The movie’s early success was bolstered by the large number of church groups that turned out to see the movie.
Rose plays Young Bart in the film.

J. Michael Finley plays Bart as an adult, and Dennis Quaid plays Bart’s father, Arthur Wesley Millard Jr.
Rose’s family is very close, so the subject matter was unfamiliar to the young actor. He found a supporter in Quaid.

“I had to do scenes with him that were pretty emotional,” Rose said. “He gave me a lot of great tips. He was really nice and amazing.”

The movie was filmed in Oklahoma City. Rose was on set for about four weeks. On the last day of filming for his character, a party was held, and he asked Quaid to attend. Not only did Quaid attend, the actor paid for the venue to stay open three hours after it was scheduled to close, Rose said.

“I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know if he would even come,” the teen said.

Rose has had several other acting roles, including playing a zombie on AMC Network’s “The Walking Dead” series.

“On TV it looks scary but being on set was a totally different experience. You would walk around a corner and see someone dressed like a zombie sitting there taking a break and smoking a cigarette.”

He also is in the film “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.” He plays a kid who kicks SpongeBob and his pals off a sandcastle. The movie was released in 2015 and was the 18th highest-grossing movie of the year at $162.99 million, according to Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

“The SpongeBob Movie” was filmed in Savannah and Tybee Island. “The Walking Dead” films scenes in Georgia cities including Atlanta and Senoia.

“It is really cool to see how Georgia is doing so well in this industry,” Rose said.

He also works on cartoons, including narrating a cartoon in Spanish for Boomerang network’s Latin America programming.

“I don’t speak Spanish, so that is interesting,” Rose said. “They have me read the words off paper, and they play it over a speaker so that I can hear how it sounds. I say things like, ‘Coming up next.’”

Brody said he hopes to do more acting, but ultimately, he wants to be a preacher.

“I get to travel when I am acting, and I try my best to express my love for Jesus Christ when I do. I hope I can bring people to Christ through this movie. That is my biggest hope for this movie. I do not do this for me, but for the glory of God. I don’t want anyone to think it is about me. This is all for Him.”

By Carla Caldwell, Around Acworth title editor.