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Aspen Kennedy on Playing Joseph in ‘God With Us’

Aspen Kennedy on Playing Joseph in ‘God With Us’

Last updated on: November 10, 2026 at 12:13 am by DeWayne Hamby

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Aspen Kennedy on Playing Joseph in ‘God With Us’ 2026-11-10T00:13:17-04:00 DeWayne Hamby

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Aspen Kennedy wants audiences to see Joseph not as a distant figure in a familiar story, but as a young man facing heartbreak, uncertainty and a choice to trust. In the new film “God With Us,” Kennedy plays Joseph “Junie” Love, an inner-city young man whose life is upended when his childhood sweetheart, Mary Anne Thomas, tells him she is pregnant.

‘God With Us’ image courtesy of Sondag Comm.

The drama reimagines the Nativity story as a modern-day parable about grace, growth and unconditional love. Kennedy said the project came to him in early 2024, before filming began that September. He first saw the finished film at its Washington, D.C., premiere.

“I read the script, but just to see it for the first time, I’m like, ‘OK, this is going to be good,’” Kennedy said. “The impact that I believe it will have, and it’s such a family-friendly movie, too.”

For Kennedy, the story’s spiritual core comes through its attention to the people living inside a moment of faith. Rather than simply retell a story audiences may know from childhood, the film asks what its events might have felt like for the people involved.

Director and writer Jimmy’s vision, Kennedy said, was not to recreate the biblical events but to imagine their human consequences.

“What if that happened during this time? What would that be like for people?” he recalled asking himself after reading the script. The story, he said, gives Mary the pressures and stress of an impossible situation, bringing those experiences to life on screen.

Kennedy approached Joseph with the same focus on emotional reality.

“We hear about Mary’s faith, rightfully so, and Joseph’s, too,” he said. “But it’s just the fact that I wanted to embrace the humanity — to see, like, right, he was a man that had feelings, that had emotions, that loved this woman.”

That love, Kennedy said, helped him imagine Joseph’s turmoil after receiving life-changing news. He considered the future Joseph and Mary might have planned together, and how deeply Joseph would feel the loss of that imagined life. His acting coach offered a principle that stayed with him: “You have to create the beloved to be able to feel lost.”

Kennedy sees Joseph’s response not as a rejection of faith, but as part of a difficult journey toward it. The character is hurt and angry yet ultimately chooses to believe despite the reasons he has to doubt.

“He still makes a decision to choose faith despite what was in front of him,” Kennedy said.

The portrayal also draws meaning from the contrast between private grief and public action. Joseph considers ending the relationship quietly, Kennedy noted, because he does not want to embarrass Mary. But the choice does not erase the pain he is experiencing in private.

“That really had to hurt,” Kennedy said. “You really have to love this person to be impacted by the loss of that person.” For him, Joseph’s emotional reaction makes the character feel less like a figure fixed in place by tradition and more like a person trying to understand what God is asking of him.

Faith was present behind the camera as well. Kennedy said the production began each day with prayer, an experience he had encountered only once before on a set. The church community of the director’s father contributed volunteers who served as extras, and Kennedy described the atmosphere as a family.

He recalled seeing crew members respond to the production’s spirit of humility and prayer. Conversations with people on set, including a photographer and a production assistant, left him with the sense that the experience had planted seeds of faith. The cast and crew, he said, came together to tell a story they believed could reach people.

Kennedy brought a similar perspective to his earlier work on The Forge, a film by the Kendrick Brothers. During that production, he remembered daily 6 a.m. devotions and prayers before moving to new locations. The experience showed him that professional excellence and humility can coexist.

“I can stay on this path that God has for me,” Kennedy said of the lesson he carries into career decisions. “At the same time, I can do it at a level of excellence.” He added that he hopes to be part of projects that positively affect humanity and serve the kingdom.

“God With Us” is the sophomore feature from filmmaker Jimmy Jenkins, who wrote and directed the film. The cast includes Ashley Olivia Fisher, Rotimi, Roger Guenveur Smith, Ashley Rios, Gregory Alan Williams, Clifton Powell and Lil Rel Howery. The film opens in select theaters in mid-November 2026.

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