Thomas Ian Nicholas is a busy guy. Between making movies and making music, he doesn't have a lot of time to chill.

Lucky for us, Thom took some down time to chat with M Louie about his career, his mommy, and his relationship with God. He also shared his reflections about Jesus' first big performance — turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana.

You can read our interview with Thom in the Spring 2002 NT issue of M Louie, and if you want to know more about Thom, visit www.thomasiannicholas.com and meltingpot.fortunecity.com/barnsbury/747

Still haven’t gotten enough of Thom? M Louie talked with him about balancing Christianity and what he calls "compromising" acting roles. Read on for the part of the interview we didn't show you in the magazine.

What have been some of your favorite projects to work on?

Thomas: One of my favorites has been American Pie. It was fun to work on, and the director was great. I learned a lot. It also enabled a transition in my acting career. And it kind of established me as a young adult.

Did you have any reservations when accepting this role?

Thomas: You know the film was what it was. Once I knew I was gonna get the part, I had a meeting with my pastors. I was like, "What am I going to do? Can I really do this? Is this role a good example of leading a Christian life?"

I was 18 years old at the time. Just two years previous I had been baptized and confirmed and had become very dedicated to my walk with Christ. My pastors really saw it as an opportunity. They pointed out that it is acting and that they saw it as an opportunity for me to really bring something to the project that maybe no one else could — my faith life and witness.

So did you receive much criticism for doing American Pie?

Thomas: People really look at movies very seriously sometimes. Especially when the movie is successful. So I had to take that into consideration — about what it says to those people who take it so seriously.

I remember a couple of years back I attended a youth group's weekly Bible study. The youth director there talked to me about it all. During our conversation I told him, "Well, how does a postal worker praise God while he is working? What is he doing? It’s by doing his job, right? It's by delivering the mail and staying within the guidelines of his job. He's leading by example through his career. Was I not doing the same thing?" And the youth director said, "Yeah, but the postal worker always keeps his clothes on."

And that's the way it played out with many Christians who disagreed with my choice to do the movie. Yet, the reality is, young people are experiencing the exact same things that are portrayed in the movies. It's real, and yes there were a couple of compromising scenes, but it's happening. I don’t think that it’s a good thing that it is happening, but it is.

However, I think many people are overlooking a deeper message in film, as I think it portrays a reality that is much more complicated than thought to be for teens; such as the truth about relationships between young people. It's about a character, who comes from the wrong side and who is constantly trying to have sex with his girlfriend. He's not really thinking about the relationship aspect of it. He gets called out by his girlfriend and she wants him to say, 'I love you.' It then becomes a battle of morals. Finally, he figures it all out and decides that he does love her. Then boom! She breaks up with him. These types of things are also very real for young people.

Life is not as forgiving as God. Despite these deeper messages of love, relationships, and morals, I have been battered by Christian communities for having done the movie.

American Pie 2 didn’t put you in a compromising position. Did that have anything do with who you are as a young Christian person?

Thomas: I would love to take credit for that. I really feel so strongly about the fact that God has his hand very much in my career, and it's one of those things where I am not really in a position in my career to demand things. Yet, I don't want to seem like I am saying, "I am just cruising along and God is taking care of the rest."

Cause I am working hard and my heart definitely speaks the truth, but in this situation I don't really know what happened. I know in the original script, the story line was a little different even though there was still the same outcome. There was more interaction between the characters and they were actually getting together and having sex, but Kevin was kind of like trying to get back with her and she was just like kind of using him and then in the end he did the same thing, forgave her, and became friends with her.

So, I don't know. There are so many elements that play a part in it. When it comes to one's journey you can only really even see like a quarter of that. And there is so much that is happening outside of your vision. You know what I mean? And I really just feel strongly that because of my walk and my acceptance of my faith and God, that God really kind of takes care of it, overall.

Thomas Ian Nicholas (pages 8-14), M Louie New Testament, Spring 2002.