Sanford teen stars in hit Christian-based film, "Overcomer"

SANFORD, N.C. (WTVD) -- Sanford teen Aryn Wright-Thompson stars in the Christian based film, Overcomer that is winning big at the box office.

Wright-Thompson attends Southern Lee High School. She had been acting for eight years before landing the leading role in the film.

"My first movie was a faith-based film," Wright-Thompson explained. "And, I get to preach to people now, I go to churches, I just was at a Church of Champions in Houston, and actually after I spoke 77 people gave their life to Christ. So, it was just a wonderful thing and I'm glad that God is using me in this way."

Overcomer was made on a five million dollar budget, released in the summer of 2019 and has brought in 38 million at the box office as of Jan. 2020. Wright-Thompson plays lead character, Hannah Scott, who is a cross-country runner with asthma.

"It's been an awesome movie and a lot of people learn a lot of things from it. It's just beautiful," Wright-Thompson said.

Wright-Thompson hopes to attend college and own a film production company.

"I want to become a director," she said. "I still want to act and I want to just make movies for kids for them to find a message to a movie. I think that's so awesome and that's something that we need nowadays."

Overcomer is available on Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital including Amazon Prime Video.