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Armie Hammer came very close to playing Batman, in George Miller's apparently now-defunct Justice League movie. But he got to play a superhero of a different sort when he took on the role of Billy Graham, one of the best-known and most widely-respected evangelists in history, in Billy: The Early Years, which opens Friday.

Hammer, who turned 22 in August, plays Graham from the ages of 16 to 31, before he became the world-famous preacher that he is today. The film covers Graham's conversion at a revival meeting in 1934; his courtship of Ruth Bell (Stefanie Butler), who he married in 1943; and his crisis of faith when his fellow evangelist Charles Templeton (Kristoffer Polaha, and later played as an old man by Martin Landau) became an agnostic in the late 1940s.

Armie Hammer as Billy Graham

Hammer spoke to Christianity Today Movies from Nashville.

What was it like taking on Graham's voice for the film?

Armie Hammer: His voice was probably the most challenging thing about Billy Graham. I did a lot of research, and his accent was not concrete. It changed depending on who he talked to. If he thought his accent would help him a little bit, he'd lay it on a little thicker. If he was speaking to someone in New York, you'd almost hear no accent at all. It was very interesting, and when he preached, it was a completely different accent than when he just normally spoke. So his voice was actually one of the more difficult things that I had to work with.

We don't typically think of him speaking normally; we just think of the preaching?

Hammer: Yeah, and that's the amazing thing about this film, I feel. Everybody got a chance to know Billy Graham the preacher. But we wanted to, as a gift to the Grahams for everything that they've given, give them something that will allow people to know Billy Graham the human, how he got to where he went.

When actors take on famous characters, you often have to find a balance between impersonating someone and creating a character. How did you find that challenge, creating a character apart from the preaching?

Hammer: It was something that I was excited about, because when I was watching a lot of his interviews, when he would do talk shows and stuff, he had so much of a personality that you never really got to see shine through. So it was a multi-faceted blessing, because I got to play someone as well-known as Billy Graham, but at the same time, because no one really knows Billy Graham's personal life, I was given a little more liberty there to create the character.

There's an interview on YouTube where he's being interviewed by Woody Allen. Have you seen that?

Hammer: That is the best interview in the world! He held his own against Woody Allen and was cracking the crowd up. It was so impressive, that interview.

But even there, you can sense that he's staying on message?

Hammer: Definitely.

Whereas your film covers all these very intimate moments—romancing his wife-to-be, dealing with his parents—so how was it, getting into those parts of his life, where there was no message?

Hammer: It was great, and as an actor, that's the kind of stuff that you live for. The thing was, he was more than a preacher; he was a human being. It was great bringing a human side to someone who has been so venerated and respected. I've spent quite a bit of time with his daughter Gigi lately, and she absolutely loved the film.

What sort of research did you do prior to the role? You've been working with Gigi, but was there any contact with the Graham family prior to that?

Hammer: No, I didn't actually contact the Graham family. I didn't want to bother them. People have wanted so much from them their entire life, and I didn't want to be one of those people. I wanted to give him something. I wanted to do my own research—and thank God for YouTube, man, because I was able to find all his sermons and that awesome interview.

Hammer with director Robby Benson

And what about, say, reading up on his life?

Hammer: His autobiography, Just as I Am, gave me so many great insights and I was thrilled to read that. And regardless of the fact that it's as thick as tree trunk, it flies. It's a great read. I was also able to get my hands on a bunch of material, notes on sermons and stuff. The Internet was so helpful. For an actor, forget going to the library, man. Just go to YouTube and the Internet, that's all you need.

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