Some say books can save the world — and for one Georgia woman, a spiritual tome did in fact rescue her from almost certain death in 2005. On March 12 of that year, Ashley Smith, a drug-addicted homebody, was assaulted in her own home by Brian Nichols, who had earlier that day killed four people. Over the course of several hours, Ms. Smith managed to calm Nichols, incredibly, by reading to him from Rick Warren’s inspirational book “The Purpose Driven Life.”
The new film “Captive,” out this week, tells the story of Ms. Smith’s harrowing night with Nichols — and of the unique bond that developed between them.
“I do love the redemptive side of it,” said actor David Oyelowo, who portrays Nichols in the film opposite Kate Mara as Ms. Smith. “But also the fact that it’s a true story really gives you license to investigate just how complicated and complex this thing was that played out between them.”
Mr. Oyelowo told The Washington Times he researched the story by reading Ms. Smith’s book about the experience, “Unlucky Angel.” While he was unable to speak to Nichols himself in prison, he did discuss Nichols’ state of mind with a clinical psychologist.
“What’s the mindset? What snaps in someone to make them be able to do what Brian did?” Mr. Oyelowo said. “So those were the ways that I cobbled him together.”
Mr. Oyelowo read “The Purpose Driven Life” several years ago, which he found inspiring due to its premise that God has a plan for one’s life, and going against that plan causes anxiety. At the same time, he believes this life is a combination of predetermination and controlling one’s own destiny.
“I’m personally a believer in faith and the power of” free will as well, he said. “You could argue that Ashley was very much operating within her free will and self-determination, and she found herself in a terrible spot. And she was looking down the barrel of death. And in that moment … she said that God took Brian Nichols over and she was being asked, ’Make a choice: life or death.’
“Is that self-determination? Is that God speaking to her? That’s open to interpretation. But for her it was definitely a voice outside of herself determining this whole episode. And that to me is the power of the story, regardless of whether you’re coming at it from a faith point of view.”
The recent Kendrick Bros. film “War-Room” has done well at the box office, continuing a trend of faith-based films finding an audience. While “Captive” is not specifically a film of faith, Mr. Oyelowo believes that filmgoers are speaking loudly and clearly that they do find edification in such movies.
“I think that ’faith-based’ is actually a broader audience than we currently even care to admit,” he said, adding that films by the likes of the Kendrick Bros. are “tailor-made to a certain kind of audience, and they’ve done it outside of the Hollywood system, which is incredibly admirable.
“I also think there’s room for movies like ’Captive,’ whereby faith is an integral part of the film but it’s not imposed, and it’s certainly not trying to beat you over the head.”
Mr. Oyelowo is no stranger to playing men of faith. His most famous acting job thus far was undoubedly portraying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in last year’s Oscar-winning “Selma,” which detailed the civil rights leader’s joining the notoriously oppressed voter rights march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
Mr. Oyelowo said “Selma” was an opportunity to both celebrate and humanize King, who, despite his many achievements, was as tragically flawed as anyone else.
“In playing [King], you have to really entertain and sit with the guilts, the fears that this individual had,” Mr. Oyelowo said of his much-lauded performance as the slain leader. “I think that what I wasn’t anticipating is feeling even a little bit of the burden that Dr. King must have felt.
“Dr. King [was] a man of faith, [and] that faith governed how he lived his life and what he had to say about civil rights and injustice.”
And yet half a century after the march, America continues its uncertain conversation about race, especially in light of recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island where unarmed black men have been killed by white police officers.
“I think until there is a level of understanding that transcends the fear that causes prejudice, there won’t be change,” Mr. Oyelowo said. “Fear of what you don’t know or what you don’t understand is basically what racism is. That is what we were able to, I think, demonstrate what happened in Selma. Until [denying black people the right to vote] went from being an African American problem to an American one, nothing changed. It took white Americans dying for that cause, it took white Americans going down to Selma to say this wasn’t OK.
“[And] it took Ashley Smith’s compassion and huamnity to look at this black guy wielding two guns in the eyes and say ’Please don’t kill me,’ ” he said, bridging back to his new film. “It was the commonalities they both found despite being such broken people that led to such a good situation.”
“Captive” fictionalizes the seven hours Ms. Smith spent as Nichols’ prisoner, which lends it an almost theater-like quality, which suited Mr. Oyelowo and Miss Mara, both stage veterans, just fine.
“There’s nowhere to hide or run” in such a setting, he said. “I just couldn’t imagine anything worse than being holed up with someone like that for seven hours.
“What he had done was inhuman [and] what I think is so commendable and incredible about Ashley Smith is that she managed to find a way to access his humanity in that moment.”
After which, Mr. Oyelowo believes, they both emerged for the better — even Nichols.
“Ashley Smith could never have anticipated that anything positive would have come out of her life, let alone beyond an event like this,” he said. “And here we are. She has lived a very full life of purpose and has never touched that drug again beyond this night, and has gone on to inspire a lot of people.”
Mr. Oyelowo, who got to act with his professional hero, Daniel Day-Lewis, in “Lincoln,” hopes that more women and persons of color will be represented behind the camera in an industry that is too often typically male and white.
“I think we’re missing out on a lot of richness by not having them represented behind the camera,” he said. “So often black people, Hispanic people, Asian people, we’re on the periphery, especially when it comes to Hollywood, and that’s not reflective of the world we live in. We are all the center of our own stories, and those stories have value.”
“Captive” opens in the District Friday.
• Eric Althoff can be reached at twt@washingtontimes.com.
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