Running the Bases is so much more than a sports movie. We talked with Brett Varvel about drawing from personal experience, how he and his wife have to be a team, homeschooling and how it’s not “me” but “we” when it comes to raising their family.
Interviewed for Family Entourage
Family Entourage: Running the Bases is way more than a baseball movie. That is the central theme, but there are so much more to unpack.
Brett Varvel: Well, first of all, thanks for talking with me and getting the chance to talk about this exciting movie. I grew up playing baseball, and so that was obviously something that drew me to the project from the beginning. And yes, just as you said, it’s not just a baseball movie. I think that’s the intrigue about it because if it’s just a sports movie, there’s plenty of those. But this packs so much more than just the great game of baseball.
Really, I believe at its core, this movie deals with some difficult life issues that are relatable to so many people. Everyone in this life has experienced some kind of loss or trial or grief or unanswered questions in their life. And what I think that’s so great about this movie is that throughout the majority of the characters in the film, people can watch this movie and point to the screen and say, “That’s me.” And I believe that this movie can give people encouragement and hope in the midst of their unanswered questions, in the midst of their grief and loss, and ultimately point them to the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
FE: I love seeing in the film that your onscreen wife is very supportive, and you’re talking with your son about the decisions that are being made and how they’re affecting other people’s lives. I feel like whenever an actor takes a project, there’s a lot of opportunity to either bring some of that home or use things from their own life to infuse into their character. For you, and it seems from social that your wife is very supportive and your family. How do you navigate all of that? What does that look like as far as taking roles and managing home life?
BV: I can’t speak highly enough of the love of my life, Christina. She’s my biggest cheerleader. She’s my biggest supporter. I call her my business partner. We do this together. In fact, I try to be very vocal about not only just other people, but speaking into her to remind her that this is not a me thing, this is an us thing. When I go to set and the things that I do on camera are influenced and inspired by my real life with her and with our kids. And she points me to Christ, and she encourages me to keep chasing after Jesus. And so much of my relationship with her is a reflection of what I do and the films that I’m blessed to be a part of.
But then it’s just this constant one step at a time, one project at a time type of a process for us where, when this project came to me a few years ago, I told her about it. I said, “Let’s pray about it and whether or not we should accept this role.” And we felt peace about it. And this was still at the tail end of some of the COVID stuff, and so they weren’t able to come with me on set. Usually, because we homeschool our kids, we can just take the family with me, and we go to to whatever project I’m filming.
This was not one of those situations. And so it was a four-week stint of production where I was away from them, which was super difficult. But praise God for FaceTime and things like that where I could check in on the family and see how things are going. But she does. She bears so much of the home responsibility when I’m not there. And that’s heavy.
And one of the things that is challenging, honestly, just to be transparent about what I do for a living, is a lot of people can look at the fact that I make movies and they ooh and ahh over that. But when I see what she does at home, that’s unbelievable, and that’s worth everything. And in a society in our culture where we’re trying to redefine what makes women valuable, I look at the fact that she stays home with our four kids and teaches them and trains them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. And to me, that is an eternal impact that we may not even see the full extent of on this earth. And so, so much of what I did in this movie was definitely drawn from personal experience.
And Gigi Orsillo, the actress and I who worked together on running the basis, we talked a lot about just our real life and how we could bring some of those elements into the characters of Luke and Jessica to make it relatable and to make it something that people could draw encouragement from when they watch the film.
FE: Wow, thank you so much for saying that. It sounds like you have such a fantastic balance and relationship and family at home that allows you the opportunity to make an impact for the kingdom in the form of art that you might not be able to if there was, behind the scenes, different things going on. So what a testament to her. I love that.
BV: Right. It’s definitely a challenge. I won’t say it’s all rainbows and sunshine all the time, but we do it together.
Running the Bases available on DVD, the Blu-Ray, or 4K Ultra HD February 21
