In the case of Dragonfly, Kevin's character goes through an amazing journey that involves faith, so I took advantage of the chance to ask this Hollywood star a couple of spiritual questions that I doubt many interviewers have asked.

Holly: Your character goes through an amazing journey from grief, doubt and disbelief to finding faith and discovering a miracle. How did playing this character affect your life?

Costner: I threw myself into that character and lived it. The dialogue was honest and the situations were very compelling. Joe and Emily are soul mates, and that strength in their relationship is what kept them connected. That's what ultimately saved Joe. It was a hard role and very intense, so it was a different character for me. It wasn't a fun role, but it was a rewarding one.

Holly: Did it change the way you believe or have an effect on your faith?

Costner: Well, I have always wanted to believe that there is something more to life than what we have here on earth. I could relate with what Joe was going through and the questions he was asking, so in that sense, it did affect me. I mean, it would be nice to know that there is something more, a higher power waiting for us, wouldn't it?

Holly: Well Kevin, that something more would be heaven. Do you believe in heaven?

Costner: (He smiles) I desperately want to! I mean, I really want to believe that a part of me will continue on after this life and that there's more to me and to this life than just what's here on Earth. Yes, I want to believe.

Holly: Wouldn't you want that for your children?

Costner: (His face lights up.) Yes, I would! I'd love to know that I can go before them and prepare a place and be waiting for them so that when they join me we can all be together. … I'd love to think that I'll be with them forever.

Although I was familiar with Tom Shadyac's work as a director (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps), I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he is a Christian who wants to make not only good films, but make a difference with the message his movies send. I found Tom to be open, honest and earnestly desiring that the Christian community allow filmmakers (like himself) to explore subjects of faith in creative and entertaining movies that will get the secular world talking about faith topics and asking questions.

Holly: Dragonfly is sort of a departure in style from the kind of films you normally do. What made you decide to do this film?

Shadyac: This script has such inventive storytelling. What happens to us after we die is one of the biggest questions facing the human race, and when you discuss the topic with people, you find that almost everyone has had some experience they couldn't explain. I was with my mother when she died, and all of us who were in the room together saw her cross over. It was an amazing experience. It's narrow-minded of us to think that the only reality is what we can see and touch.

Holly: Would you classify Dragonfly as a ghost story or a supernatural thriller?

Shadyac: It's a supernatural thriller with spiritual connotations and undertones. Even though people may think it's a ghost story by the trailers, it's not. At least not in a conventional sense. There's a purpose to the supernatural in this story ... a reason and message behind everything that happens, but it's ultimately for good in the end.

Holly: In this supernatural thriller there are references made about faith and believing in what we can't see. But there's also a nun who talks about the fact that "if we can create what we can imagine in this world, then why not the next world?" Why did you take this approach rather than a more biblical one concerning God and Heaven?

Shadyac: The story is intended to be a parable, a modern-day parable. I wanted to tell a story where the message and meaning lie in the story, and it will make the audience think. I've been on a quest to find commonalties between telling good stories and making them parables. Here's a doctor who's very practical and doesn't believe in anything after death, but through strange circumstances in life, finds faith in what he can't see and no one else around him will believe. The key is to think parable. Christians miss so much when they condemn things without being open to the overall message. Yes, we have the Bible, but we don't know everything. Obviously God does work in mysterious ways.

Holly: Is the level of consciousness or plane of consciousness you refer to in this movie one our souls are at before being in heaven?

Shadyac: Not in the religious sense but in the scientific technical realm. David Seltzer, Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson wrote the script and applied actual research data in it. Scientists say that there is so much more that we don't know about the brain, our level of consciousness and our minds and souls.

Holly: Was there a significance in having the symbol the kids keep drawing, resemble a cross in shape? Is there a subtle religious message in that symbol or not?

Shadyac: The symbol has a purpose in the film but coincidentally is also shaped like a religious symbol. But I like the expression, "What is coincidence is actually God's way of remaining anonymous." God works through signs. He puts people and coincidences together in life. So if people who are religious want to see it that way, then that's fine with me. In fact that makes the story even better for them.

Holly: Communication from the dead and what happens after death is a controversial topic among the religious and Christian community. How do you hope religious or Christian audiences respond to this movie?

Shadyac: I hope that they will be open to it. It's important that we don't always go into things with all of the answers, or we lose out in life. Yes, we have the Bible, but we don't know everything about God and how he works. If we did, then he wouldn't be God. The story is boiled down to a journey of faith. It's up to Joe, through unbelievable events, to do something courageous he never would have before. I think there is a voice in all of us ... all of us have it. God speaking to us to have the courage to follow him.

Sometimes the Christian and religious community come down hard on Hollywood. It's tough to try and make a movie that will please everyone. But I try to remind people that God works in different ways for different people.

Holly: What do you hope people of faith will walk away with from this movie with?

Shadyac: I hope they go to the water cooler at work and talk about this story and where they stand in their own faith and belief about God and heaven. I hope that they'll be open to the unconventional context of this story. You can't look at the Bible without reading the end of the story or it would be out of context. My story ends with Joe saying, "Belief gets us there." That's the heart of the film in the last line. It's set up to get people to talk about their beliefs and where their faith is. That's what I hope everyone walks away from this movie with. It's a movie about faith, and that people can access that faith if they want to.

I would hope that we as Christians would applaud what fellow believers are trying to do in Hollywood. Although we may not theologically agree on the content or message in some of these movies, we can still applaud the fact that hopefully someone who has no faith in God will see a movie like Dragonfly and be compelled to ask questions or search for their own answers. If that's all that happens, then Christian directors like Tom Shadyac have done what God intended them to do: simply plant a seed. God is quite capable of doing the rest.