Kurtis Sanheim, the Chaplain for the Legion Branch 291 in Okotoks and a local professional actor, will be showcased as a lead supporting role in the film The Liberation Men.

"The Liberation movie that's coming out, it's an independent film that they filmed in the Ottawa area. I have been a professional film actor for many years, and then I kind of quit that to follow other pursuits."

Sanheim would link up with Danny Crossman after serving with the Canadian Military in Croatia, with Crossman showing interest in doing a film on the events and shining a light on soldiers with PTSD, which would lead him to start acting again.

"I had gone to Croatia in 1993 peacekeeping with the military when I was 20. There was a big battle that happened on that tour called Medak which was the name of the town, and he was making a short film about that event to raise awareness for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among veterans," he said.

After reaching out to Crossman about being in the film, Sanheim's acting career was back on track.

"I had quit the industry, I had quit the Union, and I was just kind of watching, and I thought I used to act. Maybe this is my call to get back into it after all these years away. I contacted Danny, he auditioned me, I sent in a clip, and he saw my demo reel from before. He decided to use me as a lead role in that film as an independent. Then I agreed to do this one as well and ended up getting back into the film industry," Sanheim said.

Sanheim has been involved with acting in some other roles since getting back including in Heartland, Billy the Kid, Fargo, and some commercials for Alberta Teachers.

In The Liberation Men, Sanheim plays a commanding officer, bringing in his past military experience to play the role. The film is based on a Canadian war hero, who helped save a Dutch town from liberation in Holland in 1945.

"The Liberation Men is inspired by a true story, it's based on a real character that lived, a Canadian war hero. That of course interested me, and I'm playing a commanding officer of the Canadian Regiment that is freeing this particular town in Holland in 1945," he said.

"Being an ex-military guy, of course we read up on Canadian war history, we know all about the war events. Some of us study it more than others, so I had known about this particular fellow.  As there are not as many great Canadian war stories compared to American ones because there are millions more people in America compared to Canada."

"It's nice to see some Canadian content, that's what got me interested. Plus being a sergeant in the army, as a retired sergeant I know how to talk, act and be in this type of role. Observing and talking with lots of commanding officers and stoic commanding officers like I played this fellow. You can't be all emotional, you have to make good decisions and can't let it affect you. That's how I played this character."

The Liberation Men will be playing at Okotoks Cinemas for its Alberta release on Sunday (May 5) from 1-3 p.m. Sanheim will be doing a question-and-answer period after the screening on May 5.

To watch the full trailer of The Liberation Men, click the video below.