LDS actor pursues career without compromising

On the big screen, Corbin Allred — the actor and former kid clogger from Utah — has had Kirk Douglas cry on his shoulder, argued with Dan Aykroyd, played the trumpet for Susan Sarandon, been rescued by Cary Elwes and — eat your heart out, guys — kissed Natalie Portman right smack dab on the mouth, all before his 19th birthday.

At the time, Allred was a teen actor on the rise. As soon as he finished one movie or TV show, he was starting another one.

And then he threw a plot twist into his life Hollywood never would have imagined. He walked away from all of it — the money, fame, premieres, the lights, cameras, action, and Natalie Portman's lips.

Allred took a two-year break to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, walking the streets of Australia all day in a suit. After giving up part of his childhood for acting, he gave up acting for his God.

"It was bad timing," says Allred. "I couldn't have been doing better. It was movie after movie. It was the peak of my career."

Allred, now 25, was sitting in the family room of his parents' home in Midvale during a Christmastime visit from his home in Los Angeles. In the four years since he returned from his mission, he has made one movie — the small-budget, Utah-made, critically acclaimed "Saints and Soldiers."

"It's been like starting over," Allred says. "Physically, I'm different, too. I'm older. It takes time to build momentum again. But that wasn't my goal anyway. I didn't go on a mission so I could be blessed and have this great career. The mission was the greatest experience of my life."

Allred hasn't exactly been standing in the unemployment line anyway. He has made the rounds as a guest star on a variety of TV shows — "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI: Miami," "ER," "The Division," "Judging Amy," "Dharma and Greg," "Boston Public," "State of Grace," "7th Heaven," "JAG," "Navy NCIS" and "Threat Matrix."

"The funny thing is, before my mission I played all-American roles," he says. "Since returning from my mission, I've played bad guys and disturbed people. In 'CSI,' I was a killer. I was crazy. The message was that it's wrong, and it was handled. I went to jail for the rest of my life."

This is the way it is for a devout man in Hollywood, this constant weighing of roles and what they portray and trying to preserve a piece of himself. The truth is, he has been offered several movie roles, but declined them because they compromised his values. Moviemakers have even offered more money to change his mind.

"They would have been good to have on my resume, but at the expense of my soul," he says. "There were some sex scenes. One of them had the foulest language I've ever heard."

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