“I grew up in church and have a wonderful family that always supported that,” Underwood told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “I grew up going to church camp and reading my bible and having different faith books and movies in my life.”
The 28-year-old “American Idol” winner makes her film debut in a supporting role in the heartfelt drama “Soul Surfer." And Underwood hopes that the film will enable American audiences to see the power that faith has in the healing process.
“I hope that it is very clear that the faith in this movie is more than an undertone, and that the reason Bethany got through everything was because of her faith in God," she said.
“It’s easy to have faith when things are going great and you’re on top of the world – I’m winning, I’m selling, I’m on tour and this is all great! But this story is about having faith when the chips are down and how to deal with that. We can all learn something from Bethany’s story, even when the little things in our lives don’t go so well, we can take a lesson from her and realize how small that problem really is.”
And although the Oklahoma native embraced the new experience of working on a movie set, joining her co-stars between the waves on a surfboard was not an option.
“I enjoy being by the water, but being on the water is scary. I’m a horrible swimmer, I’m a fear of drowning kind of girl,” she explained. “But (acting) was a totally new animal for me, it was so different but everyone on the set really helped me along. They were patient and understood I had never been in a movie before and helped me through it.”
So it’s pretty safe to say this down-home girl has come a long way – but she hasn’t forgotten what started it all, and tells us she is greatly immersed in the current season of “Idol.”
‘American Idol’ is the only reason I'm in the music business, period. I had no idea how to get in any other way,” she told us.
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