(OSV News) — Dennis Haysbert spoke about the impact of faith on his family ahead of his performance in a PBS-televised Christmas program.
“Our belief and strength in God has never wavered,” the actor, perhaps best known for starring in the “Major League” movies and the “24” TV series, told OSV News about his Christian and Catholic background during a virtual media Q&A. “That is the one thing that has kept our family together.”
‘Hope of the Season’
Haysbert, together with Tony Award-winning actress and singer Ruthie Ann Miles, spoke with OSV News ahead of the broadcast of “Hope of the Season: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir,” where they appear as guest artists. The 22nd annual Christmas celebration, affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, will air Dec. 15 and Dec. 24 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS.
The 90-minute pre-recorded special is already available to stream for free at PBS.org and on the PBS app through Jan. 1.
In addition to PBS, the program will air on BYUtv, a service of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. ET with repeats through Christmas Day. Viewers will also be able to stream for free at BYUtv.org and on the BYUtv app.
A Christmas special
For the Christmas special, Haysbert and Miles join an all-volunteer cast of approximately 500 people, including the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and the Orchestra at Temple Square. The musical performance, which was filmed in front of three live audiences, took place last year at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, which is associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Miles sings during the program, which combines timeless Christmas songs such as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem” with more modern holiday music from the movie, “The Polar Express.”
In-between songs, Miles, a Christian, reveals that she grew up assisting her mother, who was the choir director and pianist at her family’s church. She goes on to call “O Little Town of Bethlehem” a “reminder that Christ, the child, was a gift to all of us. And that Christmas is the opportunity to receive that gift — to love him and to share his love with the world.”
Complementing the music, Haysbert narrates the inspirational story of Charles Mulli, a African philanthropist and the founder of the nonprofit Mully Children’s Family. Afterward, Mulli makes an appearance and speaks about his faith and ministry. Haysbert concludes the program by telling the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke.
Messages of faith
Haysbert, whose mother was Christian and father was Catholic, spoke about his family and Christmas with OSV News. As one of nine children, he called his family large. All of his siblings have children, he added, and many of them have grandchildren. Earlier this year, he also became a new grandfather.
“My mother and my father, who are both deceased now, they left me with a foundation of love, hope and spiritual awareness that I try to carry on through and with the family,” he said.
Also speaking about faith, Miles addressed the program’s focus on hope and shared her advice for holding onto hope this Christmas and beyond with OSV News.
Starred in Broadway productions
“In my faith growing up, hope was something sparkly and beautiful and fun to think about,” said Miles, who has starred in Broadway performances including “The King and I” and television series such as “The Americans.”
Hope, she later realized, doesn’t always feel like that.
“Hope is something that is planted deep in your heart when it’s really dark out and you’re looking for a single star,” she said. “Hope is a feeling that you have in your heart when you’re wishing and dreaming … and your faith is igniting as strong as it can.”
A focus on hope
She spoke from personal experience. In 2018, Miles, who was pregnant at the time, and her 5-year-old daughter, Abigail, were struck by a car. Miles survived, but Abigail and her unborn baby girl didn’t. In 2020, when Miles and her husband welcomed another baby girl, they named her Hope.
“Hope isn’t something you see, a lot like faith,” Miles said. “Hope, to me, is being able to close your eyes and feel and find that spark of light — and you hang onto that and you let it take you and lead you into the future.”
“That’s what my faith has taught me, and that is what the word ‘hope’ means for me,” she added. “It’s who my daughter is to us now, and it is what I hope the audience will get from this year’s broadcast.”
A coming together
Miles also hoped that the program would unite people from all walks of life.
“The one thing I would like people to take away is that people from all over the world, people with different backgrounds, people who have different life experiences completely, people who come from different sides of the country, can all come together and hope and pray and believe and smile and feel joy about the singular thing that can bring us all together,” she said.
Adding to that, Haysbert hoped people would remember “we are closer than we are apart.”
“We just have to allow ourselves the space, the energy, the love, to accept that we are as close as we are,” he said. “We are all one race, we’re all human beings.”
Katie Yoder is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Maryland.
