Although she split from the group 10 years ago — and it has since been disbanded altogether — LeToya Luckett is probably still best known as one of the original members of Destiny’s Child. The 28-year-old Texas native released her self-titled debut album in 2006, and after it was certified platinum, she set her sights on another venture: acting. Currently starring in “Preacher’s Kid,” based on the biblical story of the prodigal son, Luckett portrays Angie, a pastor’s daughter whose freedom has long been restricted by her father’s profession. Tired of the pressure, she joins a traveling gospel group against her father’s wishes. She recently spoke to the Wave about the evolution of her career, and the pressure of making her feature film debut in a lead role.

How did you get this role? Were you approached with a script or did you audition?
I tried out. I was actually cast for another role in the movie, the role of Desiree [played by Tammy Townsend] but four days before the shoot date, director Stan Foster called me and asked whether I was interested in playing the role of Angie. To my knowledge, Angie had already been cast … I had never done a feature film before, so I was like, “Oh my God, I know nothing about this.” Needless to say, they flew me down the very next day, put me with an acting coach and it was on from then.

Did you have trouble relating to your character?
My father is a minister, so I had some experience with being the preacher’s kid a bit, though I didn’t have immediate pressures. But, just being in the church period, a lot … of perfection is expected of you and people think you can’t do this or you can’t do that. It is hard sometimes to just grow up and experience your own life, and that’s what this movie is about. Angie, which is the character I play, really doesn’t get the opportunity to have a regular life like a teenager would — like being able to go out and go to the movies with friends. Her father didn’t really allow that. She eventually moved out on her own, bumps her head a couple of times and then she eventually comes back home.

As a preacher’s kid, did you ever feel restricted?
I wasn’t as restricted as Angie was. My parents allowed me to go out and pursue my music career at the age of 12-years-old with Destiny’s Child, so my life was a little different. They still allowed me to grow up.

You split from Destiny’s Child roughly 10 years ago, do you still find it hard to shed that image and come into your own?
Yes, especially being one of the largest girl groups in history of music, a lot comes with that. Anything up under that umbrella, there’s going to be pressure. When I did step out on my own it took me a while, because for one, I had no intention on going out and being a solo artist. I was trying to step as far away from that as I possibly could. But what God has for you, God has for you, you can’t operate in fear, you just have to be able to have the confidence and know that you’re doing the best you can every time you step out on that stage and every time you’re in the studio. You just have to have fun with it.

You recently wrapped a film, “Killers,” with Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher and Tom Selleck. What was that experience like?
That was a lot of fun. … That was a totally different experience. With “Preacher’s Kid” there was so much pressure on me because I had the lead role, but with “Killers” I was able to sit back and watch these actors that do this every single day of their lives. I was able to learn so much from them and how they operated and how they studied. I think “Killers” was more of a learning experience. Of course, “Preacher’s Kid” was too, because it was my first feature film, but there were so many seasoned actors on both of these sets that I have just been blessed in such a short amount of time to learn so much.

Major studios tend to shy away from films that they feel are to preachy, so to speak, because they do not reach mass audiences. How can people who may not be religious relate to this film?
I think everyone can relate to this film. It is based [on] the Prodigal Son from the book of Luke. It is one of those things that is a learning experience. You go out, you try to live your life and all these things but you have to be able to learn from your bad experiences and when God throws something in front of you, it’s all in how you’re able to come up out of it and what you take from it and how you can move passed it and that’s what Angie did in this movie. She went out, she tried to live her own life and try different things, she tried to grow up too fast and ended up in a circle with the wrong folks. It was her decision whether she wanted to stay in that or come out of it and go back home. In the end, she made the right decision. It’s all about decision making…I think a lot of us can learn from that. Every day we wake up we have a decision to live our lives one way or another and it’s all in what we decide to do.

This film sheds a light on the home life of a pastor who, like many in his profession, is not perfect. What is your take on this? 
A lot of times people have things to say about pastors. It’s more about what they are doing or money. You have to understand that when you have a man of God or woman of God, that’s God speaking through them. Whatever they decide to do on their personal time is between them and their god. I think because people put these pastors on this pedestal, we forget that they are human, we forget that they make mistakes, we forget that they live and breathe and bleed just like we do. Why should they be any different than us? Yes, we all sin, but we don’t have to practice sin. Sometimes we don’t all make the right decision. When I go to church and I listen to the sermon, I recognize that this is God speaking through this man or woman and whatever word they have to share with me, that’s what God wanted me to hear and this is what God wanted me to walk away with, not what this man is doing when he takes off his robe.