This Is Us actress, Chrissy Metz shares why playing Joyce Smith in the forthcoming faith based film, The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mother’s Faith and Her Child’s Resurrection is dear to her heart.
Joyce Smith, is a mother whose 14-year-old son fell through a frozen lake in Missouri. She kept praying by her son’s bedside until his heart (miraculously) started beating again.
Metz shared with Glamour Magazine, why it was important for her to play Joyce in the film:
“[The story] was something that was really dear to my life and my heart, because my mom had a pretty severe stroke five months ago,” Metz tells us. “She’s doing really well now and living with my sister in Florida, but the hard part is, she has aphasia, which is where you don’t really have a vocabulary. Basically she speaks blah, blah, blahs, which we can understand because she’s our mom, but it’s kind of like playing charades. Her vocabulary could come back at any moment, so we’re really hopeful but just grateful that she’s there.”
Going through such a traumatic few months helped Metz connect to Joyce when she first read the script.
“I could so relate to her convictions—this unconditional love and positivity—and her belief in her faith that her son was going to get better, just as I didn’t want to believe the prognosis that my mom’s surgeon and doctor gave her. I totally believe in the power of positivity and collective consciousness and what you put out there.”