Aliza Kate Barlow to Play Anne Wilson in Lionsgate's My Jesus Film

Newcomer Aliza Kate Barlow will play Christian country singer Anne Wilson in My Jesus, the film from Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company inspired by Wilson's hit song of the same name, Deadline reported.

Barlow takes the role in her feature debut. That means this is her first appearance in a cinema film, and she will carry a story drawn from Wilson's own life and from Wilson's book, My Jesus: From Heartache to Hope.

Gavin Casalegno joins the cast as Jacob, Anne's brother. Monica Potter plays Lynn, the mother of Anne and Jacob, while Charles Esten plays Kent, their father, and Beau Bridges plays grandfather Bob, according to the same report. The line-up puts a new lead at the centre of an established family group on screen.

The music behind the film arrives with a strong chart record. Wilson's song My Jesus topped Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart and spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Christian Airplay chart, Deadline reported. Wilson was the first female solo artist to lead that airplay chart with a debut single since the chart started in 2003. Her album My Jesus was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.

Behind the camera, Kay Oyegun wrote the screenplay from Wilson's book and will direct the film. It will be her first time directing a feature film. Producers for Kingdom Story Company are Joshua Walsh, Brandon Gregory, Andrew Erwin and Daryl LeFever, with Jim Miller, Matthew West and Robert Deaton as executive producers, a senior credit often linked to financing or creative guidance rather than day-to-day filming. Meredith Wieck and Maria Ascanio are overseeing the project for Lionsgate, Deadline reported.

For fans, this means the song known from Christian radio will now come with faces, a family and a wider story. The casting keeps the focus close to Wilson's own account, with the book as the source and Wilson's family at the heart of the cast list.