Matthew Hawk: Bringing Heaven to Hollywood

When I was discussing this article with our managing editor, Cyndi Kay Green, we had a difficult time figuring out where to place Matthew Hawk Eldridge’s interview. He is a creative Renaissance man. His story could easily fit into many different categories. We could certainly slot this interview into the music section of the magazine. Matthew is an accomplished multi-instrumental musician who has written songs for movies (Boy Erased with Nicole Kidman and Russel Crowe, for example) and has performed in films such as Pitch Perfect Three. He’s been a worship leader and has even had his own music based national television show, Rock-it TV on a TBN station.

But Matthew could just as likely be considered an actor. He has been in a wide variety of major motion pictures with stars such as Mel Gibson and Steve Carrell and television shows with major exposure.

Matthew is also an author of historical fiction, children’s books and screenplays. His published works include The Pan: Experiencing Neverland, Whiter Than Snow and Saint Nicholas, the Christian Story. In fact, he holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University (where he was valedictorian).

After consideration, we have decided that Matthew Hawk Eldridge is an inspiration worthy of being our first featured “People Who Inspire” interview. We hope that you find his story as inspiring as we do.

Stephanie Kelley: Please introduce yourself to our readers. 
Matthew Hawk Eldridge: Hey, my name is Matthew Hawk Eldridge and I’m what some would call a modern-day Renaissance Man. I’m a professional musician, singer-songwriter, actor, and writer living in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m also a husband and a dad of four children. My biggest passion is to use all of my talents for the glory of God and to draw people into a deeper relationship with him—especially broken people, people who are walking the weary path.

SK: Please share your testimony.
MHE: I believe that as Christians, we are in a constant living testimony of who God is and what He is doing in our lives. If God is active in our lives and we have a vibrant relationship with him, we will continue to see his mighty works in us and around us—so I am constantly seeing little miracles and his hand at work. My life as a Christian started at a very young age, before I started grade school, but my relationship with God grew through the years as I constantly found myself in trouble at home or school and would retreat into the arms of my heavenly father. My most recent testimony can be found in the birth of my son who underwent three open heart surgeries in his first week of life and is doing well, and by witnessing the hand of God who saved my wife’s life while giving birth. She had an undiagnosed placenta accreta and the only reason she survived is because we were at one of the best hospitals in the US to prepare my son for his heart surgery. We didn’t know this was going to happen, but God did. Had we given birth anywhere else, they said she would’ve probably died.

SK: Please tell us about your involvement in the secular entertainment industry.  Did you ever feel that being in the “Hollywood” scene conflicted with your faith or were you able to share your testimony with others either directly or indirectly?
MHE: For the last 11 years, I have worked on major motion pictures and in television as an actor, singer, musician, songwriter, double, and stand-in. Before that, I was a praise and worship leader, so it was a very strange transition from working in church to working in a very spiritually dark Hollywood. But nonetheless, God made it very clear He led me there as a missionary. I learned a lot about people as well—mainly about loving people. When I worked for a church, I didn’t realize how many prejudices I had against “sinful” people. I had an “us versus them” mentality and I feel a lot of the church still views life that way. Working in Hollywood and getting to know “lost” people really helped humanize them for me. They are people who have a heart, who have feelings and a soul. But they are lost and confused and need Jesus. They need love. They need someone to care about them and point them to Jesus. It’s a hard thing to do when we are judging them. Now, I try to love them into the kingdom. Jesus told us to love one another and that love covers a multitude of sins.

My very first project was a television show called, The Vampire Diaries. Now, let me start by saying, I used to direct a runaway street ministry in downtown Orlando, and many of these teenagers were involved in vampire occults—they drank animal blood and participated in satanic rituals—so I am against anything vampire, BIG TIME. So, when I got the phone call to audition to play guitar in an episode, I was like, “Okay God, is this a test? If it is, I will gladly say ‘no’ to this television show!” But I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to do the show… so I did it. We shot for several days and I had to sit on a bucket on the streets and play guitar. It actually was quite painful. Most of the shots were a two-shot between me and one of the lead actors. He asked me numerous questions, starting with, “What did you do for a living before this?” So, I told him about being a worship pastor. He had never heard of one. He asked me questions about the Bible and about my beliefs, and I was like, “Okay, God! This is why I am here!” On our very last day of shooting, he said to me, “Matthew, I need to look into this Jesus thing, because it seems to work wonders for you.”

Another time, I was working on a film about Anna Nicole Smith. I was innocent and had no idea what I was getting into. We shot in a strip club, and I felt like I was the only man there not watching the actresses “perform.” I turned my back on the strip club scenes and just prayed during the takes. I told God, “If this is a test and you want me to quit, I’ll gladly quit.” Once again, I felt the Lord telling me to stay. On the fourth day, a very famous actor from the 90s came on. The famous actor asked me to run lines with him in his hotel room after work every day and I kept praying for an opportunity to share the gospel with him. On the third night, he was showing me pictures of his daughter and said how much he missed her when he was away filming. I told him, “You know, I never really understood God’s love until I had children. Once you hold that baby for the first time, you feel so much love for your child. They came from you, and there’s nothing they could ever do to make you love them any less, because they are a part of you. You love them unconditionally—they’ve done nothing to earn your love. And that’s how God loves us.” He said, “Matthew, that’s so profound.” It was my open door. We spent the rest of the night talking about the Bible, and he asked me, “Matthew, I know you know God. Will you pray for me?” It was a holy moment. I laid hands on him in that hotel room and the Holy Spirit got ahold of his life and he sobbed, hungry for more of God. It was amazing. This would happen numerous times in a variety films over the years, sometimes with actors, sometimes with crew members. This was my mission field. Sometimes I was just called to pray for certain individuals.

Another film I didn’t feel comfortable working on was, Boy Erased, starring Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and directed by Joel Edgerton. I played a worship leader in the film. I wrote the worship song specifically for that scene for the film as well. I literally sent 10 songs, one at a time, to the director for him to listen to for the scene. He had worship in his head constantly from me. Then, I sent him famous worship songs from the 90’s so he would have an idea of the sound we needed for the time period. In my initial audition, he spent 2 minutes auditioning me, and the next 30 minutes picking my brain about God and Christianity and I got to share the true Gospel with him. He had only experienced strict Catholic churches in Australia and was turned off to church, so modern worship and deeply loving people in the name of Jesus was very new to him. I got to tell him how much God loved him and how Jesus died on the cross for his sins—that the Gospel is truly a love story. He was intrigued. He didn’t know anyone who saw it the way I did. Again, this was my mission field.

I was blessed to work on some major films such as The Hunger Games trilogy, where I was a double and a stand-in for the character Finnick (played by actor, Sam Claflin) in Catching Fire and Mocking Jay 1 and 2. One memorable scene was we had to go through sewer tunnels where the water was up to our chins, in pitch black darkness. The assistant director warned us how dangerous it was and to take it seriously, because someone could die. Of course, to Jennifer Lawrence, it was a joke, so she blasted out singing at the top of her lungs, Amazing Grace, as she went down the sewer, and everyone joined in. It was comical. I also saved her life. Okay, not really, but she said I did, so does that count? We were hanging out at crafty and she scooped her hand in a dish and said, “I love mac and cheese!” She put it to her lips and I screamed, “Stop! That’s not mac and cheese! It’s tuna fish casserole!” She tossed it, grabbed my arm and said, “Gross! Thank you! You just saved my life!” I also worked on the Divergent Series Trilogy as a stand-in and doube for Theo James (the lead character, Four) on Insurgent and Allegiant and for Jon Hamm in the film, Baby Driver. I shared several of my Christian novels with Theo James and Shailene Woodley. John Hamm caught me reading Radical, a Christian book by David Platt, and asked me about it. It was an open door.

SK: When and why did you transition out of acting and involvement in the film industry?
MHE: Film life is not all glamorous. In fact, it’s pretty painful to relationships. While I was hard at work (working 15-18 hours a day or more and always gone) my marriage fell apart. I became so broken that my life just halted. I was one of those Christians who didn’t believe in divorce. I was a Christian who believed marriage is a one-time, forever thing, and only sinful, weak people got divorced. But it takes both parties to make a marriage work and to keep it together. It was a huge lesson in humility. I also suffered the judgement that came from other Christians as I went through the most painful experience of my life. Instead of being there for me, holding me, helping me through what I would call the darkest days, I was thrown away by these self-righteous Christian friends who couldn’t see themselves in my shoes. Oh, how I used to be one of them. I understood. It was a lesson on grace.

I met an amazing woman, Alysha, who helped me through the pain—and she became my best friend. Years later, we would get married and have our beautiful son, Dawson. She convinced me to go to grad school—a dream I always had—and so I did. I received my MFA in Creative Writing and was the valedictorian at a well-known film school. I thought things were going to go in an incredible direction. I was hired to write some independent films and a television series for some up and coming studios and producers while still auditioning for acting roles on the side. But then, our little Dawson came into the world, and I knew, as a three-time open heart surgery survivor, that he and his mother (who also had two open heart surgeries and almost died giving birth as I already mentioned) needed me to be there for them. Shortly after he was born, I began searching for jobs near the hospital. We were currently living at the Ronald McDonald House while he had surgery, and our last day living there, they posted for a management position. I am now working as the Evening Manager. Just like the film set, this is a ministry and a mission field. If you’re not familiar with the Ronald McDonald Houses, they take care of the families of sick children who are in the hospital. Not only do I try to be there for these families, I pray daily for their children as I walk by their rooms.

I knew that I had heard clearly from God about grad school, and yet, it seemed I was moving further away from anything writing or film related. But God knows what he’s doing. I was recently asked to write a healing children’s book series for the Ronald McDonald House based on a certified therapy dog, Betty Lou. I asked my wife to co-write it with me, and one of my favorite longtime guy friends, James Elston (who recently worked at Disney, Dream Works, and Veggie Tales,) is doing the illustrations. We are finishing up the first book and the drawings.

SK: How long have you been writing professionally and how did you get started? Has this been a lifelong dream or something that you grew into? 
MHE: While I’m new to writing children’s books (and I’ve been a fan of them all my life,) I wrote my first novel in 2008. It was a historical Christmas book based on the true life of Saint Nicholas. I cringe at my writing back then, but that book has been my best seller, with roughly 15,000 copies in circulation. My follow up novels, Whiter Than Snow (based on the true Snow White story) and The Pan: Experiencing Neverland (My own teen Peter Pan version), came out several years later. I feel that these were training stories for me. I learned a great deal while writing them, but I wasn’t formally trained, yet. And while I became much more versed in screenplays and television series writing, I wrote a much more complex historical novel about a young violinist that I’m currently pitching—and it’s the first novel I wrote that I feel really good about.

SK: Tell us a little about your music.  How long have been involved in music and how would you define your style? What is your “go to” song when you’re feeling down, worshipful or just want to have fun?
MHE: Stepping out of film opened the door for another passion of mine—playing music again and leading worship. I had to stop playing music in venues and churches years ago as the demands for working in film kept me from having a band, performing in concerts, or even leading worship at church. And after my divorce, I never thought I would lead worship again. What church would hire a divorced man? But God has taught me a lot about grace. The church is full of broken people trying to get closer to God. I met a divorced pastor who shared this very secret with me. He said, “Matthew, you’ll now be able to reach people who you couldn’t reach before—people who have felt ‘shunned’ by the church.” Divorce is a horrible, painful event and it carries such a stigma in the church. God gave me a powerful dream that I had an old, abandoned office in a church building that was still mine—but it had been unused for a decade. The next day a church called me and asked if I would be interested in leading worship. They wanted me, regardless of my divorced (and remarried) status. The pastor shared his heart for broken people, and I knew this was a beautiful new chapter I thought I had left behind. I’ve fallen in love with playing music and writing songs all over again—and can’t wait to share my songs with the world. Once covid ends, I’m hoping to perform out again. I went back into the recording studio in May to work on a new album.

I did have an album release in 2019 and one of my songs was nominated for a Native American Music Award, but I had recorded the album years prior and just sat on it—I wrote it during my divorce to “overcome” the darkness I was feeling at the time (coincidentally, that’s the album’s title.) I often describe it as faith-based, melodic, southern rock, Native American, Americana, Jesus Music—similar to Zach Williams and David Crowder. I produced it and played all the instruments on the album as well. Music has such a big pull on my life. I have to be careful what I listen to. When I am down and depressed, I find myself leaning towards melancholic bands that don’t feed my faith, but rather feed the sadness. But I learned from my wife to feed myself uplifting worship during the depressive times, and it really helps. There is power in praise. I am finding myself writing along those lines lately— a communion of the melancholy mixed with the joy and hope of a Savior. I never thought you could “stain” a song, but I have songs that are stained that I can’t listen to anymore. David Crowder is one of my favorite artists, but his albums in 2014 and 2016 helped me get through my divorce, and now I can’t listen to those songs anymore without feeling the pain of my divorce. It’s weird, I know. But the painful emotions return. That’s how powerful music can be.

SK: Where do you see yourself in ten years? Do you think you will return to acting? Being more involved in the music industry? How many books will you have written or published?
MHE: Where do I see myself in 10 years? That’s a great (and scary) question. If I had my way, the novel I’m currently pitching will be a huge success, touching lives and paving the way for other novels of mine. The children’s book I wrote with my wife will lead to more successful children’s books for us to write together. I will have many more screenplays sold, and I will still be recording and performing musically, perhaps touring, hoping to touch as many lives as I can through my songs as well. And perhaps we’ll find a way to be missionaries and share Jesus with our gifts all over the world. I’ve never been out of the states and it’s a dream of mine to go on the mission field. Then again, as I said, The Ronald McDonald House is a mission field of sorts—God sends us to the mission field every single day, if we’re willing to recognize it.

SK: How can our readers get in touch with you?
MHE: You can find more about me on my website at www.matthewhawkeldridge.com or please check out my music on all streaming platforms as Matthew Hawk (I dropped the “Eldridge” because radio kept messing it up.) You can follow my facebook page at www.facebook.com/matthewhawkmusic or Instagram at www.instagram.com/Matthew_Hawk_Eldridge

Thank you, Matthew, for taking the time to share your life and ministry with us. We are also excited to announce that we will be following Matthew’s journey right here at Christian Women Living Magazine. We will be giving you monthly updates as Matthew shares with us his insights into the creative and technical process of creating, producing and bringing an album to the market.