Soul on Fire — Is It a True Story? (Real Person Explained)
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Soul on Fire — Is It a True Story?
Summary
Soul on Fire is a 2025 American biographical drama based on the real-life story of John O’Leary, a St. Louis native who survived a catastrophic childhood fire and later became a bestselling author and motivational speaker. The film is directed by Sean McNamara and is explicitly positioned as “based on” O’Leary’s memoir On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life.
If you’re searching “Is Soul on Fire a true story?” the core answer is yes: John O’Leary is a real person, the life-altering accident happened, and several key figures around him (including legendary broadcaster Jack Buck) were real too. Like most biopics, the movie may dramatize conversations and compress timelines, but its foundation is a documented, widely covered survival-and-recovery story.
Movie Quick Facts (Cast + Director + Year)
| Title | Soul on Fire |
| Year | 2025 |
| Director | |
| Writer | Gregory Poirier |
| Based on | On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life by John O’Leary |
| Starring | Joel Courtney, John Corbett, Stéphanie Szostak, Masey McLain, DeVon Franklin, William H. Macy |
| Theatrical release (U.S.) | October 10, 2025 |
Is Soul on Fire a True Story?
Yes. Soul on Fire is a biographical drama about John O’Leary, and the official film materials describe it as inspired by / based on his “incredible true story.” The movie’s premise aligns with how O’Leary’s life has been described by his publisher and by institutional profiles: as a child, he was severely burned in a fire, survived against extreme odds, and later built a public career around resilience and purpose.
One common point of confusion: there’s also a separate documentary titled Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire (2024) about Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. That is a different film entirely. The “true story” question you’re asking here matches the 2025 biopic about John O’Leary.
The Real Person: Who Is John O’Leary?
John O’Leary is a real St. Louis–area burn survivor, author, and speaker. According to a Saint Louis University profile, when he was 9 years old he experimented with fire and gasoline in his family’s garage, triggering an explosion. That profile states he was burned on essentially his entire body (with most burns described as third-degree) and was given a less-than-1% chance to survive the night.
O’Leary’s memoir (the direct source material for the film) tells the story in similarly stark terms: a devastating childhood fire, burns covering essentially 100% of his body, and a long, difficult recovery supported by family, medical staff, and strangers who showed up at crucial moments. The book is also explicitly labeled by the publisher as the inspiration for the film adaptation.
What makes his story especially “movie-ready” is that it isn’t only about the accident itself—it’s about the recovery arc and the way community support can change outcomes. In many burn and trauma stories, two things matter as much as the initial injury: (1) the quality and persistence of medical care over time, and (2) the patient’s support system (family, nurses, friends, mentors) helping them keep doing the painful, repetitive work of rehab. The public accounts around O’Leary emphasize both: months in the hospital, many procedures, and the steady encouragement that helped him keep going.
Was Jack Buck Real in Soul on Fire?
Yes. Jack Buck was a real person—a legendary St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster—and he appears in the film as part of O’Leary’s recovery story (played by William H. Macy).
Multiple accounts describe Buck’s involvement as unusually personal. A Saint Louis University profile says Buck sent O’Leary more than 60 autographed baseballs from Cardinals players to encourage him to learn to write again after losing fingers to amputation. Separately, a St. Louis radio article recounts O’Leary describing Buck visiting him in the hospital, encouraging him directly, and later following through with a special “John O’Leary Day” at Busch Stadium in 1987.
How Accurate Is the Movie Likely to Be?
Here’s the most grounded way to think about accuracy for Soul on Fire: the big, checkable pillars of the story (who the film is about, the childhood fire, the severity of burns and survival odds, the long hospitalization, and Jack Buck’s real involvement) are supported by O’Leary’s own published memoir and by third-party profiles that repeat those details.
What is harder to verify scene-by-scene (without a filmmaker’s “what we changed” breakdown) is the exact timing of certain events, the word-for-word dialogue in hospital-room moments, or whether some smaller characters are composites used to represent a broader group (for example, “a nurse” standing in for multiple caregivers). The official materials do not typically list these changes in detail; they mostly emphasize that the film is based on the true story and the memoir. So, it’s safest to treat the movie as truth-based rather than a documentary transcript.
Main Cast (Who Plays Who)
| Actor | Role in the film | Internal link |
|---|---|---|
| Joel Courtney | John O’Leary | |
| John Corbett | Dennis (John’s father, Denny O’Leary) | |
| Stéphanie Szostak | Susan O’Leary (John’s mother) | |
| Masey McLain | Beth O’Leary | |
| DeVon Franklin | Nurse Roy | |
| William H. Macy | Jack Buck |
Where the Story Comes From: The Memoir Behind the Film
The film adapts O’Leary’s book On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life. The official publisher page describes it as the direct inspiration for the movie and frames the narrative around O’Leary’s near-fatal childhood fire, his survival and recovery, and the “choices” he believes helped him rebuild his life with purpose.
Publication details also align across major book listings: the book was released in March 2016 and is associated with Simon & Schuster / Gallery Books listings (you’ll see that reflected on major retailer and library catalog pages). This matters for “true story” credibility because it means the movie isn’t based on a vague rumor; it’s adapting a long-form account that existed publicly years before the film was made.
Reception and Performance (Helpful Context)
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film posted a strong early split between critics and audiences: an 80% Tomatometer from a small set of critic reviews and a very high audience score (Popcornmeter) based on verified ratings. This doesn’t prove factual accuracy, but it does tell you what kind of viewing experience people report—emotional, inspirational, and heavily grounded in resilience and faith themes.
Wikipedia and major film data listings also report that the movie grossed roughly $7.4 million (figures can vary slightly by source and update timing).
Sources
- Affirm Films official movie page and synopsis (film details, positioning as memoir-based).
- Affirm Films / Sony release announcements (release date, “true story” framing, cast).
- Wikipedia: Soul on Fire (year, director, cast list, release date).
- Simon & Schuster publisher page: On Fire (memoir description; “inspiration for the film”; burn severity and recovery framing).
- Saint Louis University profile on John O’Leary (1987 garage explosion, burn severity, survival odds, Jack Buck support details).
- WJBC St. Louis radio story on O’Leary and Jack Buck (hospital visit account; “John O’Leary Day” note).
- Rotten Tomatoes (director, cast/crew, audience/critic scores).
- Wikipedia: Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire (to avoid title confusion with the separate documentary).