Local priest embraces opportunities on screen and in the pulpit

Each Sunday, all eyes are on the Rev. Kris Kramer as the interim priest for Ascension Lutheran Church in Shelby leads services.

Outside of the sanctuary, a keen eye could catch some glimpses of him in scenes of the Oscar-winning film, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”

Kramer is no stranger to performing. He began with community theater in his childhood, and now shows up for movies if he has the time.

“It's kind of fun being someone else’s character,” he said.

On stage at an early age

Kramer first found himself on stage as a child. He was watching his father play a soldier in “South Pacific” in a community theater production.

The director liked the looks of the young Kramer and added him to the show, though Kramer says he thinks he was more ornamental than anything.

He later was cast as the understudy for Kurt in “The Sound of Music.”

“From a very young age I was exposed to reparatory theater,” he said.

But it was a part he played as an adult that stands out as the most out of character.

Kramer was a priest in Radford, Virginia, when the theater department at Radford University planned to put on “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

Students flushed out much of the cast, but one of the original cast members from the show was brought in to play the female lead. As part of her contract, she was not to play opposite a student.

Enter stage left, the Rev. Kris Kramer, not exactly who you’d expect to play the rugged Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd with a habit of using crass language.

Being a priest in a small town, Kramer had to get permissions from the powers that be before taking on the role.

In the end, he said it showed how someone can lean into art, and have a good time.

“We had a blast on stage,” he said. “It was a really fun, full production.”

From the pulpit to the big screen

Kramer got exposure to stardom when he was working while going to college.

He was a disc jockey at a club near where part of “Last of the Mohicans” filmed. It was not an unusual night to see a dance floor of mohawked men playing the Mohican Indians.

While working at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, he met cast members from the movie “Richie Rich” starring Macaulay Culkin.

When a friend of his worked as an extra in “Talladega Nights,” he decided to submit his headshot with a few casting agents.

He played the part of a man drinking coffee in an Amazon series called "The Ballad of Ruby Salem," and decided to take the chance with “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”

Kramer arrived at a warehouse in north Charlotte. He said it was amazing to see all the costumes and makeup work behind the scenes. Then you round the corner to see a replica of Heritage USA’s church.

“It's really quite remarkable for people who haven’t seen how movies are made,” he said.

The local priest can be seen in the audience next to Tammy Faye’s parents, getting down with a group of people dancing behind her in another scene and playing one of a handful of deacons in another.

He’s taken some screen grabs of where he can be seen, and even saw himself in the background of a People magazine cover.

His son, Calum, who is a graduate student at Appalachian State University, also joined in a couple of scenes. In fact he has a picture just before getting made up by some of the makeup artists who would later earn an Oscar for their talents.

'Embodying the love of God'

Kramer lives in Cleveland County with his wife, the Rev. Caroline Kramer who leads the congregation at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, and they have four children.

Though he enjoys an occasional acting gig, Kramer said it doesn’t pull him away from his primary focus.

“It'd be fun to do a movie and have a principal role... but for now it’s just a bit of fun, and it’s nice to have things like that to do,” he said.

Kramer does get the parallel of theater verses church – both involve costumes, an audience and a purpose.

“In the world of the church, we wear vestments and things like that. The idea of those is to cover us up so that we can be less, so that God is greater accentuated,” he said. “Method acting is all about embodying the character you’re supposed to play. You get lost in your character. Being a priest is about losing self and embodying the love of God.”

Diane Turbyfill can be reached at 704-669-3334 and dturbyfill@shelbystar.com.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Shelby priest stands in as extra on 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye'