Utah native strives to be an uncompromising Hollywood actor

Allred said he and the filmmakers were mortified when "Saints and Soldiers" initially received an R rating from the MPAA's Classification and Ratings Administration. "I don't think any of us ever thought that would happen. I mean, we knew we made a war movie that wasn't soft, but war is ugly. War is violent. We didn't flinch away from that. But we certainly didn't think we went to R-rated extremes."

Eventually, after some editing, the film was re-submitted to the MPAA and earned the more desirable PG-13 rating. "It was extremely important that we get the PG-13, so as many people could see our film as possible," Allred said.

The editing changes consist mostly of "alternate camera angles," according to Allred. "If you don't know what you're looking for, you'd think you were watching the same exact film."

The rating-appeal process was not without its frustrations, he said. "We tried to get them to tell us what we needed to change. Larry (Bagby, a co-star in the film) and I basically called them every day or every other day."

Allred said that, as an actor who prides himself on living up to his strict LDS standards, he was a bit chagrined over the initial R rating. When he was making "Anywhere But Here," his character was supposed to have a love scene with Portman's character — but after he balked, the scene was cut.

"I've heard people say that it's hard to get acting work if you're LDS and faithful," Allred said, "but that's not true, at least from my experiences. People respect you if you're honest with them — if you make it clear about what you will and won't do."

He's tried to impress that upon his "Saints and Soldiers" co-star Kirby Heyborne. "We had some discussions, because his character in the film smokes, and Kirby would never do that in real life. But the ones he smokes in the film are not real, they're stage cigarettes. He knows he's going to hear about it from some audiences. I've been trying to prepare him for that."

In fact, Allred has been trying to mentor Heyborne, a long-time mainstay of LDS filmmaking who recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting full-time. "He's such a talented guy. I can't imagine that he'll have any trouble being successful in Hollywood."

Allred has similar praise for the "Saints and Soldiers" filmmakers, director Ryan Little and producer Adam Abel — even if they did make him audition for the film. "I think they wanted me to be in it all along, but wanted to see if I would jump through some hoops for them," Allred said with a laugh.

He also has a special attachment to the material. The "sweetheart" photo his character carries is actually a snapshot of his grandmother when she was young, a photo his grandfather carried with him during World War II. "I used it to get into character."

Allred said he has been concentrating most of his efforts for the past year or so on "Saints and Soldiers," but now that the film is finally in theaters, he has resumed auditioning in Los Angeles — although he says he would like to work with Little and Abel and his castmates again. "Ryan and Adam are so full of good ideas. It's hard not to be excited when you're working on something with them. And I think they've got lots of really great stories they can tell on film."

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com