BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Sarah Drew, an actress best known for her role as Dr. April Kepner in "Grey's Anatomy," has spent much of May and June living in Birmingham and filming "Mom's Night Out."
She's visited the Birmingham Zoo and the McWane Center with her 17-month-old son, Micah.
During a break on the set of "Mom's Night Out," which wrapped up Friday after six weeks of filming, Drew talked about parenting and the need for more faith-friendly family movies.
Drew is the daughter of the Rev. Charles Drew, senior pastor of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in New York City, and Jeannie Drew, a biology teacher.
Her co-star in the family comedy "Mom's Night Out" is Sean Astin, best known for his role as Samwise Gamgee the hobbit in "The Lord of the Rings" movies.
"My family's a huge fan of 'Lord of the Rings,'" Drew said. "My dad probably preaches from 'Lord of the Rings' as much as he does the Bible. So they were really excited to meet Sean."
The movie "Mom's Night Out" is the second feature film by Birmingham-based filmmakers Jon and Andy Erwin, who had a successful debut with "October Baby." That movie tackled the topic of abortion from a Christian perspective.
Drew said "Mom's Night Out" is a broadly appealing family comedy.
"I don't look at this as a Christian film," she said. "I look as this as a family comedy. The lead characters happen to be Christians, happen to have this faith background, which I think is really refreshing. We don't have to explain why they are who they are, they just are. This is just a given, they all go to church on Sunday, they all treat each other the way that they are treating each other."
The Erwin brothers are helping fill a niche for faith-and-family entertainment that caters to a Christian audience, she said.
"I do think Hollywood is recognizing that there's a craving for it, that there's a huge audience in our country," Drew said. "They want movies that they can bring their families to. They want movies that are going to speak to their heart, in a way that's refreshing to their hearts. And Hollywood is learning that there's money to be made there. I think more and more of these types of films are being made, and higher quality, which is exciting to see."
The movie also stars Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," and country singer Trace Adkins.
Sarah Drew stars in "Mom's Night Out," which just concluded filming in Birmingham. (Photo by Greg Garrison/ggarrison@al.com)