Former ‘NCIS’ Star Lucas Black Reveals Why He Puts God And Family Ahead Of Hollywood Glory

The actor Lucas Black, who is best known for starring in “NCIS” and “NCIS: New Orleans,” is speaking out this week to reveal why he puts God and his family ahead of Hollywood success.

Black Sounds Off

While promoting his new Christian movie Unsung Hero, which was produced by the former “Full House” star Candace Cameron Bure and hits theaters today, Black told Fox News that he made the decision to leave the “NCIS” franchise in 2019 after much “prayer and consideration.”

“I had to focus on what was most important in my life,” explained Black, 41. “I’ve been really blessed, and so God kind of took my career in a different direction, you know? Legacy Peak was really the first film that fell in my lap, first script, after ‘NCIS.’ And that was kind of the first time where the production was people of faith and Christian believers. 

“And so that was a great experience,” he continued. “You know, it was a real, really blessing to be on a movie set with like-minded believers and with the same goal, and same like-minded people. And so that kind of shifted a whole new path for me. And so, a lot of these scripts have been coming to me now since then, and, that’s how Unsung Hero came about.” 

Related: ‘NCIS’ And ‘Blue Bloods’ Win Big In The Ratings

Black Leaves ‘NCIS’

Black ultimately left his role of Christopher LaSalle, which he played on several seasons of “NCIS” and “NCIS: New Orleans,” because of his family. 

“I would work 70 hours a week, and so there would be times where I would go to work and my kids would still be asleep, and I would come home, and they would be already in bed asleep,” he recalled. “So, that doesn’t bode too well — that kind of schedule doesn’t bode too well for the relationships that mean the most in your life. So, I knew it wasn’t going to last forever for me.”

Black ended up signing on to do Unsung Hero partly because of its Christian message and partly because it was filmed in Louisville, Kentucky, which is not far from where his family lives.

“This is one that’s a story that is about faith and family. And so, you know, that’s important in my life,” Black said. “So, I was excited. I was excited to get it because some of these stories — they don’t come around very often and, you know, so that was a blessing.” 

“We found two weeks in Louisville, and so I was happy to be, you know — family and close here to home and Kentucky,” he added. 

Related: Mark Harmon Finally Breaks His Silence About Leaving ‘NCIS’ After 19 Seasons

Black Talks Marriage And Fatherhood

Black has been married to his wife Maggie O’Brien, who is an attorney, for fourteen years. He credits the success of their marriage to “not putting the career before our relationship.” 

“When we made that covenant with each other and before God and before man, you know, she becomes the number one person in my life and is over everything else,” he said. “So, nothing should get in the way of that. And so, you know, it’s communicating each other’s needs and — but we, we keep Jesus at the center. He’s the head. We can’t do it without him.”

Black also finds being a father to their three children to be “amazing.”

“It’s very fulfilling,” he stated. “As a man, we kind of yearn for that purpose, you know? And there are some things that I have learned in life. And, you know, for me, I want to pass that on. Right? I want to teach it to my children. And hopefully they can become responsible adults and make a contribution to the world and make an impact for good and grow the kingdom.”

Black concluded by calling it an “honor and privilege that God wants to partner with us, you know, to procreate and produce life, and that’s just amazing. That’s just amazing to me. You know, that’s one of the first things he’s called us to do is to be fruitful and multiply, and he could have done it on his own, but he chose to partner with us.”

“And so, I feel like there’s a great responsibility,” he said. “For me, being a dad, and I feel like as men we should embrace that. And it’s because it’s the most satisfying and fulfilling, more than anything else that I’ve done in my life.” 

It’s rare to find anyone in Hollywood these days who has both Christian and family values. God bless Black for using his platform to spread the word about the importance of God and family!