Steven Grayhm is known for his role in White Chicks and as Liam Cullen in Netflix’s Between. Sheepdog, a film which he wrote, directed and stars in, aims to bring authenticity to the issues facing combat veterans. The cast includes Vondie Curtis-Hall (Netflix’s Daredevil) and Virginia Madsen (Candyman).

The film was inspired by Grayhm’s interview with real combat veterans and their families. Curtis-Hall portrays Whitney St. Germain, an ex-convict and combat veteran who is trying to reconnect with his family.

“I read the script, and immediately I felt like, ‘Wow, this is a journey I’d like to take,'” Curtis-Hall tells Nerd Reactor. “I really thought the character had depth and humanity, and carrying this weight of having been wrongly accused of something, having lost his family. It’s 30 years in prison, 25 years of being a veteran, and then being told, ‘You’re no longer a veteran because of the way you were discharged.’ There was so much there that I really wanted to play it.

“And then to be a part of that generation, seeing my friends go away to Vietnam to serve, some of them coming home, some of them dying, some of them coming home wounded emotionally, physically, some with addiction. And then the notion of not being heroes. Showing up and not being embraced by your country. The zeitgeist of that time is anti-war. We had no business being there anyway. We didn’t win the war. We didn’t come home with a clear victory, all that stuff. So, I was really pleased to be able to say yes to this movie.”

Madsen portrays Dr. Elecia Knox, who is tasked with helping Grayhm’s character, Calvin Cole, who is dealing with PTSD.

“It was a very, very emotional material,” Madsen said about Sheepdog. “And I’ve been doing it for so long that I pride myself on being able to leave my work on the set and go home. And this one was a little different. This one was a lot harder. Everyone who worked on this film, and that includes our crew, really meant something to them personally to be making this. So we all bonded because we were doing something that was important. And not every job is important. Some jobs, you got to pay the mortgage, right?

“Some jobs are just fun, like when you’re doing a comedy. But when it’s this kind of subject, it matters. We were on a mission to be able to bring this movie out into the world to help people. That was, first and foremost, in everyone’s mind. The stakes were very high. So we’d better get it right.

“I can’t even imagine how Steven felt, Steven and Matt. I mean, it was a 10-year journey for them. And normally, I hate when people use, ‘My journey on the movie.’ For them, it really actually was. They went everywhere and worked really inside of the VA. It took Steven years to gain their trust. And these were stories that were real. With their permission, they were incorporated into a story so that many stories could be told. By the time it got to me, it was really a leap of faith that I had to take, because it was that good.”

About Sheepdog

Synopsis: Decorated U.S. Army combat veteran Calvin Cole is court-ordered into treatment and into the care of a VA trauma therapist in-training. Things become even more complicated when Calvin’s father-in-law, a retired Vietnam Veteran, shows up on his doorstep having just been released from prison. As Calvin’s plan to run from his past becomes even more challenging, he learns through the support of his community: tough love and compassion, that he must put himself back together again for his family – and for himself.

The film stars Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Vondie Curtis-Hall (Netflix’s Daredevil), Lilli Cooper (Broadway’s Tootsie), Dominic Fumusa (Dexter), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY), and Steven Grayhm (White Chicks, Netflix’s Between) as combat veteran Calvin Cole.

It is written and directed by Steven Grayhm.

Sheepdog releases in theaters worldwide on January 16, 2026.