He’s got a new flock.
Scott Foley stars as a pastor and recently widowed father in the new show, “It’s Not Like That.”
“My mouth can tend to get away from me. There were a couple times…standing at the lectern addressing a congregation where I missed a line or something, and went, ‘sh-t’ or ‘f-ck!’” Foley, 53, told The Post.
The “Scandal” actor joked, “There were also a bunch of kids in the audience – you can’t do that!”
The show premieres January 25 on The Wonder Project on Prime Video – which is a faith-based add-on to the streamer.
“That put a little pause in my step,” Foley said. “I have to be honest with you, when I was first approached about it, they said, ‘There’s a catch; it’s a faith-based show.’ And I said, ‘I’m not sure I know what that means.’”
“It’s a faith based show in that I play a pastor. My character is a faith leader. Aside from that, there’s no real espousing of scripture or proselytizing. It happens to be what my character does for a living. It’s a profession that we don’t really see that much on television.”
Foley’s character, Malcolm, is a recently widowed father of three. His family friend, Lori (Erinn Hayes, “Kevin Can Wait”), is also recently divorced, and the two friends navigate their new single lives while helping each other with parenthood and wondering if their relationship is heading for romance.
“This is my kind of television,” the “Grey’s Anatomy” actor said.
“This takes me back to ‘Felicity,’” he added, referring to the JJ Abrams show starring Keri Russell that aired from 1998 to 2002. Foley played Noel Crane.
“There’s no high concept, I’m not running into a room with a gun to fight the bad guys – which is good, at my age! It’s just simple storytelling, done well.”
After an initial marriage to Jennifer Garner from 2000 to 2004, Foley has been married to fellow “Grey’s Anatomy” alum Marika Domińczyk since 2007. The couple shares three kids: Malina 17, Keller, 14, and Konrad, 12.
“One of the great things about this [show] is that I have three kids, and don’t really watch television in my family,” the “Scream” actor said. “There’s not an ongoing show with dramatic or [an] immediate narrative that is appropriate for our kids. And we’re hoping that this show does that.”
He said that playing a pastor was “daunting,” because he “had no experience with it.”
“I grew up going to church, but as an adult I had not necessarily been a religious person,” he added.
After researching books on the subject, Foley met with a real pastor.
“I reached out to him, sent an email. It took a couple of weeks before the secretary of the church actually believed I was who I said I was! We got in contact, and he invited me to come visit his church, spend some time with his family. And he just happened to run a church in St. Louis, Missouri, which is my hometown. I hadn’t been back in 20 years.”
Foley said he “hopped on a plane” and met with the pastor, asking him and his wife around “170” questions like, “Is it weird being married to a pastor? Why is it weird?”
The pair were “welcoming and warm,” the “Scrubs” actor told The Post. “I’m so happy that I did that.”
