NEW YORK, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Cuba Gooding Jr. says that like the character he plays in the movie, "The Fighting Temptations," he finds strength and security in his faith.
"This character (I play...) came from this gospel, southern, religious background and removed himself from this environment to be in this professional world and was solid in his new existence and found tragedy in that his world fell apart," the Oscar-winning actor told reporters in New York recently.
"He has to go back to his roots and find strength in that, and realize that his true strength is in remembering from where he came and that to me was a theme in my life," explained the "Jerry Maguire" star.
"I'm from a Baptist church and having to mold myself into a frame of mind that would bring me success, not only in my professional life, but in my personal life, and whenever the going gets rough, I always go back to my faith and I thought that was a nice statement to make and a great opportunity to put wonderful music in a movie like this -- and break-dance a little bit."
Co-starring pop star Beyonce Knowles, "The Fighting Temptations" is a comedy about a slick advertising executive who heads south to collect an inheritance only to find he must create and successfully lead a gospel choir before anyone shows him the money. The movie was released on DVD and home video Tuesday.
