The holiday season can become a nightmare for some people. Parents are often unable to provide a joyous Christmas experience due to finances. That’s the story of TV ONE’s original holiday film Coins For Christmas.
The film shares the story of Madison. She’s a struggling single mother trying to provide for her kids. Through her journey, Madison goes through the ups and downs of finding the silver lining. The star-studded cast includes Stephen Bishop, Essense Atkins, TC Carson, Kelly Price, and Karlie Redd. The Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper spoke with Bishop about transitioning from baseball to acting.
LOS ANGELES SENTINEL NEWSPAPER: Before we dive into the film, I’m curious to know why the transition from baseball to acting?
STEPHEN BISHOP: I was in college and took a drama course. That was a fun experience. The professor suggested that I might want to do that for a living, but I wanted to play pro baseball instead. But he said, ‘keep it in your back pocket and see what happens.’ That was a light bulb moment for me. When baseball ended that was naturally the next step. I just dove head first into it.
LAS: Do you still use elements from your baseball career with your acting career?
BISHOP: In the career of both acting and baseball, I learned how to deal with failure. For example, actors have to take a lot of failure before landing roles. That’s the same for baseball. It’s a game of failure. You fail 70% of the time. You just learn how to deal and just keep it pushing. You learn not to take it personally. As long as you do your best work, that matters the most.
LAS: What is the film about?
BISHOP: “Coins For Christmas” is a film about a woman named Madison. She is going through some tough times. She has kids and her bank account has been seized because her husband was caught doing some dirty stuff. She really wants to put money together for her kids. That’s when she becomes a driver to make ends meet. She meets my character, Alec, who is a NFL player. He’s arrogant and brash. No one really wants to work with him. They eventually go on an adventure of developing a relationship.
LAS: Since this is a Christmas movie, do you have any Christmas traditions?
BISHOP: Not really. My family was pretty spread out. It was just my mom and I. Every once in a while, I would spend time with her in Atlanta. Being on the west coast was difficult because I was early in my career and didn’t have the money. Later in my career was difficult as well because I had auditions. But now I have a one-year-old daughter.
LAS: How is fatherhood treating you?
BISHOP: It’s great! I’m thinking about dressing up as Santa but it might scare her. She would have no idea who I am.
LAS: What would you say is the overall theme of “Coins For Christmas?”
BISHOP: I’ll use the main character Madison as an example. Her character went through a tough time. She had confidence issues and low self esteem. There are a lot of people going through those types of things. We have to understand everyone is gifted a certain way by God. Instead of feeling down or unsure, embrace your own gifts. Build on those and walk with confidence. Most importantly, just love yourself and watch doors open for you.
Coins For Christmas premiered Dec. 16 on TV ONE. You can catch the encore on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for TV ONE’s Christmas marathon.
