Bailey Cave

An American actor who has managed to integrate highly personal matters of faith with the films he's taken part in, Bailey Cave has appeared in two films since 2006, "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof," and is presently studying for the ministry. Both films were directed by Alex Kendrick and produced through Kendrick's production company, Sherwood Pictures, which operates in conjunction with Georgia's Sherwood Baptist Church to create and distribute Christian-themed theatrical features for a larger, national audience. Cave, like many who acted in "Facing the Giants," was a volunteer rather than a hired actor, and worked on the film while attending Sherwood Christian Academy. In interviews, he's talked about how the faith shared by cast, crew, and supporters (many of whom were also volunteers) helped motivate them through challenging situations. On the screen, the athlete Cave plays is the kind of self-doubting youth the story needs to illustrate one of its crucial lessons, that of the connection between faith and achieving one's goals (be they spiritual or literal). In 2008, Cave reteamed with Kendrick for "Fireproof," a drama about the struggles of families of a group of Georgia firefighters. Like "Facing the Giants," Kendrick uses true-to-life professional and domestic environments to explore his themes of faith, a stark contrast to the popular "Left Behind" films, which take a more genre-based approach.