It could have been the day that finally destroyed Ashley Smith's already troubled life. She was a widow in her 20's, a recovery drug addict and a young woman desperately trying to prove her worth as a mother. Brian Nichols, a suspected rapist who'd just escaped from an Atlanta jail and already taken four lives, took Smith hostage for seven hours and yet, almost stunningly, eventually released her unharmed.
The 2005 incident stunned Americans nationwide and, in some ways, turned Pastor Rick Warren into a household name when it was revealed that throughout her captivity Smith had read portions of Warren's book "The Purpose-Driven Life" to Nichols.
It seems like the kind of story that Hollywood would dream up. Yet, it's true. It happened. The man who very well could have destroyed Smith's life may have, in the ultimate irony, been the one who saved it.
Smith, now Ashley Smith Robinson, gives all the credit to God and a faith that somehow got renewed during those seven hours that would eventually lead to Smith's release and Nichols' surrender. It was only a couple of months after the incident that Smith began writing what would become her best-seling book "Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero." Now, ten years later, Ashley Smith Robinson is telling her story nationwide with the Paramount Pictures release of a new film based upon her book, "Captive," starring Kate Mara as Smith and David Oyelowo as Brian Nichols.
Ashley Smith Robinson was in Indianapolis recently and The Independent Critic joined her over lunch at downtown Indy's JW Marriott to talk about the movie, her life, her faith and what gives her life purpose now.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
One of the things I wondered about the film, which I loved by the way, is about your journey between then and now. I mean, we obviously get a strong sense from the film of where your life was at when the incident in the film happened. At the end of the film, we find out where you're at now. What happened after the event that is in the film was over to get you to where you are now?
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
For the first year, I actually lived in a home with my aunt and uncle. I dug into the word of God to find out why He saved me. I got myself in bible study. I just started to learn how to be Paige's mom all over again. My uncle was my life coach. He told me anytime I was doing something that wasn't right My daughter would come up and say "Well mama, Aunt Kim said I could do this!" and I'd say "We're on the same team here now kid!" I was just taking time for myself, praying to God, praying for friends and I was meeting some wonderful people. The book was a big healing process for me. I was locked up with Stacy Mattingly, the ghost writer, for seven days. It was ten hour days. Instead of being on drugs, I was working out the emotions that I was hiding when I was doing drugs. It was very healing for me just to remember. We went way back. Stacy was like "I want you to go back as far as you can remember and tell me everything you remember about your life."
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
How long after everything happened did you start writing the book?
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
It was about two months.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
So you knew fairly early on that it was a story that needed to be told?
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
Oh yeah. They came to me and wanted to tell the story. I said "I'm glad you guys want to do it. It's flattering," but I wanted to find out if that's what God wanted me to do. There were four people who lost their lives and I had to be sensitive to that. I didn't feel worthy. I was the widowed drug addict. I was probably the one who should have died and all these well respected people lost their lives. I knew that there was something God wanted me to do with it and the book was one of the first things.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
As I was sitting there watching the film, I found myself wondering how difficult it is for you. I mean, I know you wrote the book and you've spoken about your experiences but there's something different about watching it up there on the big screen and putting it out there in such a big way.
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
Well, it is difficult. It's very emotional, but more than being difficult I'd say it's very helpfull so that I can see where I never want to go back to. Doing drugs was fun at first. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't, because it was. Then, it got to be such a way of life that I was miserable. I never got high like I did before. It definitely keeps me remembering and knowing that anything Satan might say about it is a lie. I was miserable. I was always going to be miserable.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
So you're obviously happy with the film, or I'm assuming you wouldn't be out here promoting it?
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
Definitely happy with the film. They couldn't have done a better job.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
I think it's pretty well known that in any film there's a certain amount of Hollywood "touches" added to the film, but do you feel like they captured the essence of what happened?
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
It's very, very true to what happened. There are some things added for dramatic effect, which I didn't like at first. I wanted it to be completely true. The book was completely true, why couldn't the movie be completely true? I watched those dramatic scenes that were added and they were scenes but they conveyed real emotions that I was feeling at the time. So, they did phenomenal. I didn't want it to lose its faith factor, because God is the power and He is what saved me. I didn't do anything heroic other than start prayin and giving everything to God. They definitely highlighted that.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
I thought that was one of the neatest things about the film. It was a weird balance. I mean, you had this crime thriller/drama that is convincingly done but you also have this faith inspired story. I wrote in my review that Captive is what I really want faith-based films to be, though I wouldn't really call it a traditional faith-based film.
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
It's not a film that really shoves faith down your throat and a lot of faith-based films do that and a lot of people get really turned off quickly by that. That's not what the film does. I was and still am a sinner saved by God's Grace. Just because my life has changed, it doesn't mean I don't struggle from day-to-day. I still struggle. I'm a human being saved by God's Grace. I just let Him carry my burdens.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
One of the things I really liked was the people, obviously real people and not characters, but they're actually portrayed as real people. I think that's particularly effective with Brian Nichols, who could have so easily been portrayed as a one-note bad guy. Now, of course, part of that is because David Oyelowo is a really incredible actor.
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
Phenomenal.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
I watched him and I realized there toward the end of the film, and I don't want to give away the scene, but I almost felt like you'd betrayed him with the way everything unfolded.
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
A lot of people are saying that. When I decided not to do drugs that night, I realized I began to see Brian as a human being. He too is a sinner saved by God's Grace. He'd made bad choices by choosing to kill four people. I'd made bad choices by doing drugs and losing my daughter. I think because that's how I began to see him, and it's still my true story about what happened, that's how it had to be played out. To hear his mom tell it, and she was asked how she felt about the film, she said "There were times I forgot that he was not Brian." That's just how phenomenal David is in the film. If you know David, you know that he is the kindest, most gentle, passionate "loves the Lord" kind of man. To have him play that part is just "Wow!"
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
Right after he played Dr. King.
ASHLEY SMITH ROBINSON
Yeah, exactly. David is a lot more like Dr. King. That's for sure.
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
Can you kind of talk about your process with the film and how it actually came to be? You started the book a couple months after everything happened, but it's been ten years now.
