Cuba Gooding, Jr. (“Red Tails”) stars in new Hallmark Hall of Fame Film “Firelight” premiering in April on ABC. Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Jerry Maguire,” “Radio”) stars in a new Hallmark Hall of Fame film, “Firelight,” premiering SUNDAY, APRIL 22 (9:00-11:00, ET) on the ABC Television Network. Darnell Martin (Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “Lost Valentine”) directs from a script by Ligiah Villalobos (“Under the Same Moon”).
Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Dwayne Johnson (“DJ”), a counselor at a youth correctional facility. The incarcerated girls and young women come from troubled – often violent — backgrounds. According to DJ, “They come in [here] so broken…These are girls who’ve been abused and objectified their whole lives.”
The film illustrates how many of the young women achieve salvation through joining an elite band of volunteers tasked with battling forest fires, building hiking trails in remote areas and assisting during natural disasters. The volunteers have to survive several weeks of rigorous training, be in peak physical condition and have to learn how to work as a team, often in life-threatening situations.
DJ says that he developed the volunteer force “because I wanted to change the way these girls see themselves. To feel strong. To see other people respecting their strength.”In the words of Cuba Gooding Jr., “These women fought to save lives. They ended up saving their own.”
A Hallmark Hall of Fame Production, this film is executive produced by Brent Shields (Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “A Smile as Big as the Moon”), Alicia Keys (“The Nanny Diaries,” “The Secret Life of Bees”) and Mary Martin (“Fair City”). David A. Rosemont (Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “November Christmas”) also serves as a producer.
Source: ABC Media Relations
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