William H. Macy Brings Legendary Broadcaster Jack Buck To Life In 'Soul On Fire'

John O’Leary has an empowering story to tell and he’s taking it to the big screen. 

O’Leary defied the odds after surviving severe burns as a young child. He wasn’t expected to survive, but he did with the help of his fight to live, family, faith, and a popular sports broadcaster who became a friend.

"Soul on Fire" has a cast led by Joel Courtney, William H. Macy, and John Corbett, and is directed by Sean McNamara. This film adapts O’Leary’s bestselling memoir into an inspiring story about turning pain into purpose. The film opens in theaters October 10, 2025, and invites audiences to reflect on the courage it takes to overcome a huge challenge.

William H. Macy, who plays the important role of Jack Buck in the film, and Sean McNamara, the film's director, had time to sit down with The Blast to talk a little about what it took to bring O’Leary’s journey to life on the big screen.

John O'Leary's life has been filled with resilience, hope, and inspiration. Since childhood, O'Leary has known what it means to fight for life and live with purpose.

After surviving a near-fatal fire as a young child, O'Leary wasn't expected to live. His journey from healing to inspiring others shares messages of positivity and hope. The bestselling author and inspirational speaker's story is about to hit the big screen on October 10.

"Soul on Fire" stars William H. Macy, John Corbett, Masey McLain, Stephanie Szostak, and many others. Macy plays the important role of O'Leary's childhood idol turned friend - legendary sportscaster Jack Buck.

During an exclusive chat with The Blast, Macy explained what drew him to the role of Buck in "Soul on Fire" and how he prepared for it.

"I was drawn to the script, I read it in a sitting, and I cried and I laughed. It's a great story, well told," Macy said. "Jack Buck is endlessly fascinating to me, that he was a really private fellow, but he did a lot of stuff like this. He used his celebrity very quietly to help a lot of people. I loved his role in this, just quietly telling the kid it's all gonna be fine. I found it powerful."

When asked if he found it tough to prepare for this role, Macy told The Blast, "I decided early on with Sean's [director] help that it would be important to do something of a look-a-like."  That meant a skull cap and wig to make Macy look more like Buck, and brown contact lens to change his eye color.

"Other than that, I was ready to rock," he said. "It's all there on the page, so all I had to do was memorize it. It wasn't difficult, it was joyous."

When speaking about the role of Buck, McNamara added some thoughts.

"It's really interesting because we're not exactly sure why Jack did what he did. He was at a formal dinner, and he heard about this little boy that he had this accident and for some reason, he was drawn on his own to see the boy at the hospital that night," he shared with The Blast. "So he was there that night, and I just feel if we could all learn to do something like that, when we hear somebody's down, to pick up the phone and do something when it happens."

McNamara further explained that oftentimes people are afraid to get involved when something tragic happens, but we should all "take that moment and care for somebody." He said even if it's just a call or text, it's a mindset he hopes others adopt. And this goes back to Buck's actions after hearing about O'Leary's situation. McNamara said he feels Buck's selfless moments trying to help O'Leary helped to save his life.

"We need more people like Jack Buck," he said.

Macy said that the atmosphere on set was "joyous" and "fun," and even said, "I think we can thank John Corbett for that a bit."

"Even though the subject matter is very heavy and very emotional, it was bouncy on the set which I think is smart," Macy said.

McNamara added, "And I love doing true stories about people. When I did 'Soul Surfer,' I had Bethany, the real Bethany Hamilton on set, she was there. And we had the real John O'Leary on 'Soul on Fire.' Just seeing the person you're making the film about there every single day with us is just incredible."

Everything in the movie was filmed in the actual locations that they took place in O'Leary's life in St. Louis, Missouri. That brought a different feeling to recreating his life on the big screen.

"John is such a lovely man and the first thing he did when I got here is he took me to his home where he grew up and this incident happened, and I met his mom and his dad and sisters, he's got five siblings. They were just so hospitable, and they made me this great meal," McNamara shared with The Blast.

"I kept looking around and I'm like we're either gonna have to go find another house and literally said would be okay if we shot part of the movie here and they said yeah, sure."

Even after hearing their furniture would have to be moved out while filming, O'Leary's parents said it was no problem. The fact that the locations in the film are the actual locations in O'Leary's life makes this film even more "authentic," according to McNamara.

The true story behind "Soul on Fire" follows O'Leary's life from the time he was left with little hope of recovering from a terrible accident that burned most of his body. He fought through many days, weeks, and months with the help of his family, faith, support of the community, and encouragement from his childhood hero, Buck.

His journey from surviving to thriving through purpose has inspired millions through his bestselling book and now will reach even more people with the film.

Macy said it's "dangerous territory to have a message," and this film has just that. He hopes that people are entertained but also take away the big picture of the story.

"I think it will be moving to people," Macy said. McNamara added he hopes everyone sees the film in the theater with their community. He also wants people to know that "miracles are real, miracles happen."

"I want people to walk away from this going, there's miracles all around us every day," McNamara said. "You just gotta look for them and you'll find them."

"Soul on Fire" will be released in theaters nationwide on October 10, 2025.