BreatheCast attended the New York premiere of the film Persecuted over the weekend and spoke with actress and Fox News Correspondent Gretchen Carlson about her role and her thoughts about religious freedom in America.

Carlson dazzled the red carpet at the New York Premiere of Persecuted. The host was very posed and expressed that she was grateful to be part of the film.

"I play the role of a journalist so I didn't have to step that much out of the box," she said, "This is just an amazing experience for me. I'm a big believer in forcing yourself to step outside of the box and try new challenges in life, no matter how old you are."

Carlson who hosts her own Fox News daytime show is an accomplished violinist and the winner of the 1989 Miss America Pageant, but Persecuted is her first film.

"For me this was just a really big challenge it's totally different from what I do on a day-to-day basis," she said, "Live TV you know it's there, you do it and it's over. Doing all of these takes just for one or two or three scenes, 50 times maybe, I have a whole new appreciation for the way they [Hollywood] do their craft as well"

Carlson went on to say that she believes Persecuted stands out in comparison to other faith based films, "I think what this film accomplishes that other Christian based films have not is that it really is sort of a cross over film, its a political thriller," she noted, "So people even if they are not interested in a Christian film they'll be entertained by this film."

Carlson expounded, "I think it's very thought provoking for the rights that we are fortunate to have in this society, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I think when people leave this film they may question whether or not they take some of those for granted on a day to day basis"

"It's a fictionalized account, but I think many people will think that parts of it can happen here, and if you follow these types of stories you see that especially with the Christian faith is starting to erode in certain respects," Carlson continued, "Kids can't say God in their speeches at school, people sue to take God off of our money, I can go on and on cause I cover these stories on a daily basis."

The former beauty queen ended the interview by saying that the film can be used as a tool to raise awareness, "I think this will be a wake up call to some people to wonder 'should I think about my rights and how fortunate I am to have them now while they're still here? or should I wait to do that until they erode even more,'" she said.

Persecuted brought in $959,000 its first weekend at the box office and ranked at number 19. View the full interview with Carlson below: