Actress Julia Denton Talks Her New Film ‘The Reliant’

Photo by Jackie Goldston

Julia Denton is a producer, writer, and actress who has starred in several movies, short films, and television shows. Her credits include Contract Killers and The Fundamentals of Caring, as well as guest-starring on hit TV shows The Haves and the Have Nots and Nashville. Most recently, she was cast in The Reliant, a film directed by Paul Munger and starring Eric Roberts, Kevin Sorbo, Brian Bosworth, and Mollee Gray.

The following is an interview where Mrs. Denton spoke with me about her new film and her role in it:

Q: Tell us a little bit about ‘The Reliant.’ What is it about?

JD: The Reliant is about a young woman, Sophie (Mollee Gray) who is just on the verge of getting married to her dream guy, Adam, (Josh Murray) when the economy takes a nosedive and the nation is thrown into chaos. When Sophie and her family are attacked by looters and forced to defend themselves, they come face to face with the reality of what they believe to be true on an individual level, their faith, and the marriage of those things with their dire circumstances, which is survival.

Q: What is your role in the film and why were you drawn to it?

JD: I play the kids’ mom and Rick’s (Kevin Sorbo) wife, Liz. I have five kids: Sophie, Jimmy (Blake Burt), Anna Lee (Marisa Hampton), Eli (Tyler Sanders) and Faith (Kiera Strauss). I think at first, it was really that I connected instantly with Liz in specific scenes, to the point that I had goosebumps, so that was the first thing that got my attention. And then it was the reality of the scenario, and that the story didn’t shy away from asking the hard questions concerning faith, forgiveness, loss, and life vs. death. I hadn’t ever seen a faith-based movie that dealt with this combination of subject matter and I thought it was brave and very relevant. I had also never been in a faith-based movie before, so it was kind of nice to have that opportunity. I’m also into self-sustainable living and so the fact that the family is sort of a prepper family is right up my alley.

Q: How is this character different from previous roles?

JD: This is the first time I’ve portrayed a character that handles or uses a weapon actually. So that whole process was interesting. And I think as far as her arc goes, I was portraying a strong woman who has to fight hard against compulsion and against maybe what feels like common sense while relying upon such elements as faith and mercy. She basically gets blindsided a lot and has to think with the renewed mind versus the old nature, so because of her faith, the conflicts she deals with are little more multifaceted.

Q: What do you think audiences will walk away feeling?

JD: I think there are going to be some pretty diverse feelings about the movie. But what I hope viewers will want to discuss most is what forgiveness is and what it isn’t, why and how we are able to and should forgive others, and what role things like mercy, transformation, and reconciliation or restitution play in that. These are things we all grapple with and can relate to.

Q: You stay busy as an actress. Besides ‘The Reliant,’ you also have ‘Spirit’ and ‘Runaway’ coming out in the near future. How do you juggle staying so busy?

JD: I write and produce, so trying to find my niche in other aspects of filmmaking keeps me from overextending myself in one area. Which can be easy to do. And I definitely find other pursuits outside of filmmaking to balance me out and just to keep perspective. For me that’s typically the outdoors, or as far from city life as I can get. That’s where you’ll usually find me.


I would like to thank Julia Denton for taking the time to speak with me about The Reliant, which is theaters for one night only on October 24th.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or novel you would like me to review. While you are at it, check out my movie review of Point Blank and my interview with actress Reem Kadem. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more posts like this one.

Did you know my new fantasy novel “The Seven Royals: All Good Things” is now available on Barnes and Noble and Amazon? You can get your e-book copy at BookLocker.

You can find me on everywhere on social media! Facebook: Author Jacob Airey | Instagram: realjacobairey| Twitter: @realJacobAirey | YouTube: StudioJake

Leave a Reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.