Ben Smallbone reveals painful rift with brother Joel, how forgiveness inspired 'Drummer Boy'

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Entertainment Editor Tuesday, November 03, 2026

For years, filmmaker Ben Smallbone and his brother Joel Smallbone worked side by side, building careers in Christian entertainment through music and movies. But behind the scenes, their relationship fractured so deeply that Ben vowed he would never work with his brother again.

Now, the filmmaker says their journey toward reconciliation became the foundation of "Drummer Boy," a Christmas musical set during the American Revolution that explores how even the deepest family wounds can be healed through forgiveness.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Ben Smallbone revealed that he and his brother, Joel, one-half of the Grammy-winning Christian duo for KING + COUNTRY, experienced a serious falling out even as they were ironically developing a film about brothers divided by war.

"Working with family is all I've ever known. It's been the most beautiful part of what I do, but also some of the most frustrating," Smallbone told CP. "And many of the storylines in the film about brothers separated on the opposite sides of the war are things that we've felt at times throughout our journeys of making music and movies. So it is a personal story in so many ways."

"There's this saying in the entertainment industry: You got to live a good story to tell a good story," Smallbone said. "The version of the film that lives today, in comparison to what lived in 2018, is dramatically different."

Smallbone recalled growing up alongside Joel, both of them younger brothers of CCM star Rebecca St. James, making amateur films together as teenagers before pursuing separate careers in filmmaking and music. Their professional lives continued to intersect, including on the 2016 film "Priceless" and dozens of music videos. Then, about three years ago, their relationship reached a breaking point.

"Joel and I came to a personal and professional conflict to a point where we said, 'I don't know if we'll ever work together again,'" the Australian filmmaker recalled. "I was quoted as saying very loudly, 'I don't want to ever work with Joel Smallbone again,' and I think he probably would say the same thing on his side."

About a year ago, while Ben Smallbone was working on Angel Studios' "Homestead" television series in Utah, Joel Smallbone flew out to meet him as interest in reviving "Drummer Boy," a movie about siblings on opposing sides of the Revolutionary War, sworn to fight one another, began to emerge.

"We sat in the coffee shop, and we hugged, and we cried together, and we apologized for words that were said," Ben Smallbone recalled. "And we decided in that moment that we're going to endeavor to forgive and reconcile and make this movie together."

"What became the 2026 version is deeply, deeply personal because Joel and I literally lived and breathed unity and forgiveness and reconciliation in the process of making this film," he said.

Opening in theaters Nov. 6 through Angel Studios, "Drummer Boy" is co-directed by Ben and Joel Smallbone and features contemporary music from for KING + COUNTRY, set against the backdrop of America's fight for independence.

The film follows the Clem brothers, Jeremiah (Joel Smallbone) and Benjamin (Lucas Leach), whose conflicting loyalties place them on opposite sides of the Revolutionary War. Jeremiah aligns himself with the British Crown, while his younger brother joins the Patriots as a drummer boy.

Their divided allegiances devastate their mother, Rachel (Melora Hardin), who must confront the possibility of losing both sons to a war that has turned them against each other. Meanwhile, Emmaline (India Brown), an enslaved young woman and childhood friend of the brothers, pursues freedom in a nation struggling to define the meaning of liberty.

The cast also includes Ioan Gruffudd, Charles Esten, Iain Glen and Beverley Knight. The film is rated PG-13 for war violence and some bloody images.

Filmed in Ireland, the historical musical marks Angel Studios' first live-action theatrical musical and follows the Smallbone family's previous cinematic success with "Unsung Hero." According to Smallbone, the project originated with for KING + COUNTRY's popular rendition of the Christmas classic "Little Drummer Boy."

"The original inspiration was obviously the little drummer boy and taking his simple gifts and laying it down at the altar for Jesus," Ben Smallbone said, adding that he aimed to relay biblical truths through story.

"Jesus told parables and realized the power of story had a way of skipping the mind and going straight to the heart and impacting people in ways that otherwise was not possible," he said.

The young drummer's journey, he emphasized, ultimately becomes an illustration of Christlike sacrifice amid violence and division.

"This drummer boy is on this long arduous journey through the backdrop of the Revolutionary War, and ultimately lays down his gifts to bring peace and forgiveness and unity in a world that's anything but that," Smallbone said.

"All the characteristics of Christ are on the battlefield through what is happening between these brothers," he said. "And my hope is that Christians and non-Christians alike are truly moved by that moment visually and through the music of 'Drummer Boy' as well."

The story, he added, examines multiple forms of freedom, from the colonies' struggle for independence to Emmaline's pursuit of liberation from slavery and the spiritual bondage some characters experience.

"We have united literally in the name of our country, the United States of America. Yet we arguably are more divided than ever before since the 1700s," he said. "What I've discovered with my brother is that forgiveness breeds freedom. That's what we witnessed personally, and that's what we witnessed with these characters in the movie."

Hardin, best known for portraying Jan Levinson on "The Office," plays Rachel Clem, a deeply religious mother whose faith is tested as her sons embrace opposing convictions and leave home for war.

The actress, who is featured in some of the film’s most moving musical numbers, told CP that Rachel is a woman whose devotion to God and her family sustains her even in the face of unimaginable uncertainty.

"She's a great representative of a mother who loves her sons both equally, no matter what choice they make," Hardin said. "Someone once made the distinction for me: The difference between hope and faith is that hope is hoping everything works out, faith is knowing everything's all worked out.”

Hardin said Rachel believes that if her sons survive, the values instilled in them by their parents will ultimately help them find their way back to one another.

"She's quite an amazing matriarchal character who is the anchor and ultimately the true north for the boys as they depart from her and separate from her, which they must do," Hardin said. "It's a beautiful model of true unconditional love."

Gruffudd, who portrays Nathaniel Clem, said the film's themes of faith and freedom reminded him of his role as British abolitionist William Wilberforce in the 2006 historical drama "Amazing Grace."

In that film, Gruffudd portrayed the devout Christian politician whose convictions helped drive the campaign to abolish the British slave trade.

"I had the great honor of representing a real character in history in William Wilberforce, a man of deep, great faith and of courage," Gruffudd told CP.

The Welsh actor said he sees a similar theme in "Drummer Boy," where the characters' beliefs guide their decisions amid conflict and uncertainty.

"The theme of faith is strong in 'Drummer Boy,'" he said. "Everybody has their own faith and their own beliefs, and I think that gives all the characters a sense of hope and a sense of true belief that things will turn out well in the end."

Gruffudd also praised the film's combination of historical imagery, including action-packed battle scenes, and music, expressing hope that audiences will find something more substantial, especially at the start of the Christmas season, than just entertainment.

"I think often we go to the cinema to truly escape," he said. "As much as you will escape in the tremendous visual feast and the musical feast of the movie, you will feel quite soulful, I think, towards the characters and themes of the movie."

"I think it's something that we all are craving for right now in cinema."

Watch the trailer below.