Nearly 40 years after his death, movie star Steve McQueen is still referred to as the “King of Cool”. Tonight his life returns to the big screen. The documentary “Steve McQueen: An American Icon” shares the rarely told story of how the “King of Cool” met Christ and his battle with cancer.

CBN News’ Efrem Graham took a look at the film with it’s director, producer and McQueen’s widow.

“The cancer came on very sudden. Obviously, it had been building up when he discovered it, and he had only been given months to live, said Jon Erwin, director of “Steve McQueen: An American Icon.” 

He continued, “This is about 6 months after he came to Christ, and so everything was about trying to fight this cancer. And it was a battle that he unfortunately lost. But in this final interview, you hear him, claim his faith. You hear the conviction in his voice. And again, it kind of blows my mind that the biggest movie star in the world, taking the spiritual journey and coming to faith, how has this not been done and done again. And as a filmmaker, that is a very special thing to unearth – an untold story about an American icon.”

“He was a unique individual, and now we call him the king of cool. And I think the coolest thing he ever did was be man enough to admit that he needed God. That was cool in my book,” said Greg Laurie who produced the film and also wrote a book about  McQueen. 

Sharing Steve’s salvation story on film has been a year-long passion project for Laurie. The film follows McQueen’s Faith Journey, and even includes unheard, personal audio recordings he made just weeks before dying.

McQueen’s widow, Barbara Minty-McQueen, said some of the scenes in the movie were too difficult for her to watch. “It brings back way to many bad memories for me, but I think it is such an important part to the movie, and it’s Steve’s words, right out of his mouth,” she said.

She continued, “We were going to move and build our home in Idaho. I had the ranch. I finally build a home on there. I wanted a family and I wanted a real life with him. I wanted to grow old in a rocking chair. We had our rocking chairs picked out. I wanted a life with him.”

Minty-McQueen said the film is her chance to share that softer side of McQueen, who was often known as a Hollywood bad boy.

Read more at Watch: The Amazing Story of Steve McQueen’s Journey to Christ.