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Kelly Rowland Shines in ‘Relationship Goals’ on Prime

Kelly Rowland Shines in ‘Relationship Goals’ on Prime

Last updated on: February 5, 2026 at 12:01 am by DeWayne Hamby

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Kelly Rowland Shines in ‘Relationship Goals’ on Prime 2026-02-05T00:01:48-04:00 DeWayne Hamby

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Kelly Rowland delivers a heartfelt performance as an ambitious television producer in the new romantic comedy “Relationship Goals,” which weaves biblical principles into contemporary stories of love, loss and redemption. The film, released February 4 on Prime Video, adapts Pastor Michael Todd’s New York Times bestselling book Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex, produced by DeVon Franklin and featuring Todd himself in a cameo role.

Kelly Rowland on the red carpet for “Relationship Goals.” Image by Paras Griffin courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.

Rowland plays Leah Caldwell, a driven professional navigating ambition, past heartbreak and profound grief. In a recent interview with Patheos.com, Rowland, Todd and Franklin spoke about the film’s journey from page to screen and some favorite takeaways from filming.

Michael, this film presents biblical truths in a contemporary setting. Talk a little about that for me.

Michael Todd: My heart was to add value to people. This started as a sermon series in our church, and we saw that it resonated a lot with people and helped them make moves, so we turned it into a book. Then, because of the amazing foresight of my brother DeVon, we got connected, and six years later, here we are with a movie starring the one and only Kelly Rowland and Cliff Method. I think this is the perfect time for this type of movie to come out, where everything’s so heavy and people have stopped hoping. We want people to aim at the relationships they desire, because at the end of the day, nobody says, “I need more money” when they die. They want the people they were in relationship with around them, and we need to aim better at relationship goals.

Kelly, especially at the graveside—you really threw yourself into this role, and I heard it didn’t take long for you to decide to do it. Tell me a little bit about why you were so enthusiastic about it.

Kelly Rowland: I fell in love with how these characters jumped out of the page. It was honest, it was human, and I appreciated and respected that about all of the characters. That’s what I appreciate about both of the men sitting next to me: in bringing the word, they make it so palatable. You can digest it. It’s very human. I love that about these characters—they’re so honest. Therese in her single walk. The fact that Leah is dealing with this great grief and holding on tight to everything around her when she literally has to open up her hands for all of God’s blessing. Jarrett being ready for his woman in his life, and he’s known what his past was like. There’s so much to take from this film, from these characters and their stories—chewing on them, tasting them a little more, putting them into your life. It is the gift that keeps on giving. I love this project, and I hope people take it in the same way I did when I read the script.

People are going to jump into the book, and the book points to so many other things. There are so many places to dive into after that. DeVon, credit to you for taking a self-help book and helping craft a compelling narrative around it. The characters are great. Talk a little bit about that—when you saw it, you were the one who saw the promise in it.

DeVon: It’s a blessing. I started this journey in Hollywood when I was 18 years old. To be at a place where, when the book hit, I could say, “I know how we can figure this out.” Here we are. It’s unbelievable to me. The process of spearheading it was being very faithful to the book in terms of the principles. We had to create the story around it, and that took a lot of work—years of developing and redeveloping it. There was a whole different ending that didn’t work. It took time and patience. If the characters weren’t good, there’s no way Kelly would have signed on as quickly as she did. For me, it was about staying faithful and developing a fun, entertaining story with great characters.

And memorable. I loved the friends in the movie—nobody was throwaway; everybody seemed really fleshed out. Kelly, you’ve had massive success as a pop star on a global scale, a household name, and now you’re becoming a really accomplished actress. Do you have to put one on the shelf a little bit? I would think being a pop star might be easier than being an actress.

Kelly: No. It’s all creative. For me, exercising that part of my brain is still fun. It’s still a puzzle. Writing a song or a script—using all of those things to execute it—even when a part stumps me, it’s fun to discover. It’s not one over the other; it’s creative. I get a chance and am blessed to do both, in spaces and places where I’m happy. That’s a blessing.

Mike, I love that your church is featured. You’ve invited the world into your home. Talk a little bit about featuring it and being in your element.

Mike: First off, you can come anytime you want to Transformation Church—we can make that happen. This is a Relationship Goals partnership. Most times when you see a church scene in a movie, it’s cheesy, corny, manipulative—it feels broke. That’s not our reality. There are people of all different ethnicities, walks of life, ages, socio-economic classes worshiping God. A modern picture of that needs to be seen. That wasn’t fake; that wasn’t extras—that was our church. They came on a Sunday morning. Fun fact: it was the first shot of the cast being together for the entire movie. We started at Transformation Church, which I believe was the blessing for the whole project. We filmed it on a Sunday after church, took B-roll during church. It was beautiful. I’m grateful for DeVon and Amazon for allowing us. Tulsa is not a filming capital—they could have done it easier elsewhere with a sound stage, but it wouldn’t have been authentic. That was our worship team, a song we wrote. It was really cool. It could give somebody who went to church in 1855 a different picture of churches today, and maybe help bring them back to faith. Really grateful.

Kelly, we talked about you becoming familiar with the script. Were you familiar with the book before the script, or did you dig into the book after?

Kelly: I dug into the book after. Michelle Williams, my sister, told me about the book. She went into great detail. I love Michelle. It was really awesome to line it all up and tell this story through that lens. Every couple times we spoke, she’d ask how it was shaping up, what the character was doing. Definitely questions.

Speaking of Michelle, I love the song you do with her, “Say Yes.” I play it for my girls all the time. I’ve played it ever since it came out. What a great song.

Kelly: It jumps the energy.

DeVon, you’re at the forefront of a faith renaissance in entertainment. How does it feel now, seeing where it started and how it’s going with all the releases?

DeVon: It feels great. It’s been amazing organically. It wasn’t how I set out—I never thought, “I’m gonna make faith movies.” I wanted to use Hollywood in a way that would be uplifting and inspirational. As I got into the faith space, most projects tended to be less diverse. I’ve been able to make all different types of movies and show there’s diversity, a spectrum. Black folks—we wouldn’t be anywhere without our faith. We got to tell our stories. I feel grateful for the opportunity to bring black hope to the screen and let people know the faith space is broad. There’s so many different types of people. I want to make movies that appeal to all segments so everyone’s faith can be represented. I feel great, and there’s still a long way to go—we’re just getting started.

I can’t wait—the future is very bright. Kelly, what was your favorite moment or memory from this film—maybe from the set or a scene you’ll always carry?

Kelly: A scene I’ll always carry is the one at the gravesite. Transparently, it was me laying some of my burdens down with my mom, that grief down. Grief comes in waves, in stages. When I opened that portal, I felt the weight, looked at Linda and you, and it didn’t take much—it felt like I could let it all go. After holding it together for so long, saying “I’m fine,” there’s only so many “fines” before you pour it all out. It felt like I could pour it out, and I felt safe to do so. That speaks volumes about DeVon, the type of production, the space and people on set. He’s trusting this space, so I could trust him. I appreciate it.

Pastor Mike, you didn’t have to do much acting—you’re just yourself. Has the acting bug tempted you?

Mike: I’ve always been a character, from a young man. If the right role is presented to me, brother DeWayne, I can make it happen. I like people understanding people through the lens of other people. What I do is tell stories of Paul, Daniel, David—narrating it, sometimes acting a little. If the right role comes, I can do my thing.

“Relationship Goals,” directed by Linda Mendoza and starring Kelly Rowland, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Robin Thede, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert, and Matt Walsh, premieres globally on Prime Video February 4. Watch the Patheos interview with Kelly Rowland, Mike Todd, and DeVon Franklin below.

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