There were moments I wished for clarity of him looking more clearly innocent. It just wasn't making sense to me. In Trial by Fire, Laura Dern stars as Elizabeth Gilbert, one of the few people who questioned Cameron Todd Willingham’s death sentence in Texas. And while the timing was ramped up for dramatic effect in the movie, she says the incident did directly affect how she processed Willingham's execution at the time. They don't know who started the fire, but conveniently, the man who's in jail for drugs [and is sharing a cell with Willingham] says that Todd told him he was the one who did it. Willingham was jailed and sentenced to death in 1991, accused of starting a fire in his home that claimed the lives of his three daughters. He loved his family; that was always consistent. I interviewed her; I taped her. And so someone brought me the article about it, and I remember reading it and reading his last words and just going, "Huh?," but not really registering it. ... His personal relationship with Stacy was horrible. Four years ago, Soleil Moon Frye set out to make a documentary about the last days of privacy. It's like, OK, and yet another thing: I'm paralyzed; Todd's being executed. ... Now, I will say I think they executed an innocent man. He was very enamored of Amber and would often talk about how she would say things to him, the things that she would do. ... [The] Johnny Webb incident came up, and it was like, ... they had the arson investigators' report saying it was an arson. I've read, too, that under trauma, that you have this ability to kind of disconnect from the experience. But everyone knew it was a fire that was intentionally set; that was a given. Sitting in a chair that long, driving to Huntsville just wouldn't have happened. One time when Todd said that he got up, he told Amber to go outside, and he went into the children's room, I couldn't imagine. We reserve the right to not post comments that are more than 400 words. But just the enormity of: Oh, my God, this fire ended in the result of these innocent children being burned to death. He couldn't acknowledge: "I got up, I ran out of the house, I didn't save my children." FRONTLINE series home | Privacy Policy | Journalistic Guidelines | PBS Privacy Policy | PBS Terms of Use, FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. I came back from that first visit with just an awareness of, how does someone endure that sort of a situation, guilty or not? The story he told me was this: He woke up to a fire. Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. "Trial By Fire" tells the true story of Cameron Todd Willingham, and by association, his ex-wife Stacey. na podstawie. Elizabeth Gilbert : Well, all that stuff is just... Hurst : People have always been fascinated by the stars, they chartered their movements. And it all hinged on this man's [Manuel Vasquez] report, which later ... we discovered that it was a faulty investigation. Jack O’Connell portrays the fear and grief of a wrongfully accused prisoner in a way that seems as realistic as I would be familiar with personally. [When] I interviewed him, he was a very, very nervous young man. They could tell when Mercury was retrograde or … In your opinion, what happened? Once I got to know him as a friend, I felt that injustice was being done, and I wanted to help him out then. Aftermath of the fire. After months of investigating the case, Gilbert found that her faith in the prosecution was shaken. The tragic and controversial story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in Texas for killing his three children after scientific evidence and expert testimony that bolstered his claims of innocence were suppressed. If Todd was guilty of anything, it was just his self-preservation. After months of investigating the case, Gilbert found that her faith in the prosecution was shaken. The film stars Jack O'Connell as Cameron Todd Willingham and features Laura Dern, Emily Meade, Jeff Perry and Jade Pettyjohn in supporting roles. This is where Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), a teacher and author and advocate, comes into the picture at about the halfway mark. I wasn't really looking for a story, so to speak. Tell me what they told you. Elizabeth sent the file describing the evidence of arson to an acclaimed scientist and fire investigator, Dr. Gerald Hurst. The name that was given to me, just randomly, was Todd Willingham. The four-hour runtime and mercilessly detailed storyline invo, It’s been just over two years since the FBI publicized its Operation Varsity Blues investigation into William “Rick” Singer, a “college admissions. [My friend and I] decided, we'll go to Corsicana, and we'll see what the people in Corsicana say. That individual turns out to be a playwright named Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), who volunteers to correspond with death-row inmates and winds up becoming convinced that Willingham (Jack O’Connell) is telling the truth when he swears that he didn’t set the fire. ... Let's go to the day of your car accident. There were lots of foggy areas that bothered me. Trial by Fire. He tried to save his car. He had stolen a camera or something, or, when he was underage, a bicycle. Things go badly for almost everyone involved and then some. Her latest film is the death-row drama Trial By Fire, where she plays a real person: Houston playwright Elizabeth Gilbert, whose efforts to exonerate convicted killer Cameron Todd Willingham were the subject of a 2009 New Yorker article called “Trial By Fire,” and now a feature film of the same name. The Movies You Love Are Streaming Every Week With Refinery29 With... Voldemort Actor Doesn’t Understand Backlash Against J.K. Ro... What Happened To The 33 Parents Involved In. …. His latest film is Trial By Fire, a heart-wrenching drama based on the true story of Cameron Todd Willingham and Elizabeth Gilbert, played by Jack O'Connell and Laura Dern. And she seemed kind of reserved, nervous, just a person who had a lot of tragedy in her life. Starring Skins actor Jack O'Connell as Willingham and Laura Dern as Elizabeth Gilbert, who befriended Willingham while he was on death row, Trial By Fire is … He was like, "Go talk to my brother," or, "Go talk to my parents," or, "Go talk to my friends," or, "This person will tell you that." What's going on?" I remember the doctor coming to me and saying, "Well, it's confirmed: Your neck is broken, and you may be like this for the rest of your life." Even though we didn't have the success we wanted.". And then he realizes his first responsibility should have been to the kids, but he can't get back in the house at that point. At some level, the universe was giving me the excuse for not being there. You are fully responsible for your comments. As the. ... Motorem filmu jest Laura Dern obsadzona w roli Elizabeth Gilbert - kobiety toczącej walkę o uniewinnienie domniemanego dzieciobójcy. Can you describe your meeting with Stacy? ... [Let's go to the day you meet Todd. She's a playwright from Houston, Texas, who first began questioning Cameron Todd Willingham's conviction while corresponding with him between 1999 and 2004. Trial by Fire. But that was one of the things that when I read that, like: "Oh, why did you try and save your car? He was very close to her, and he would describe her and talk about her. When I went there, everybody remembered it. But I could see how to women he could be a very charming, good-looking guy, especially when he was younger. Trial by Fire is the true-life Texas story of the unlikely bond between an imprisoned death row inmate (Jack O'Connell – Money Monster, Unbroken) and a mother of two from Houston (Laura Dern – Big Little Lies, Wild) who, though facing staggering odds, fights mightily for his freedom. It was just this kind of ongoing death mill of executions. I didn't visit as often; I didn't write as often. But supposedly it was smoke-filled; he couldn't see. It was impossible for me to go. And he wrote me a letter, and in this letter, he thanked me for writing him and [said that] if I would like to visit, he would put me on his visitor list. See the inspiring friendship of Elizabeth Gilbert and Cameron Todd Willingham in select theaters May 17. So they just had to find out who it was that started the fire. And then she went and got the mother, and the mother [Diane] came. They had the actual photos that we saw and were looking through them. In Trial by Fire, Laura Dern stars as Elizabeth Gilbert, one of the few people who questioned Cameron Todd Willingham’s death sentence in Texas. Why were you moving the car?" And right now I'm with one of my plays, I'm trying to turn it into a screenplay, but the process of writing is very different because I used to type quickly and I can't do that now with my hands," she explains. "Trial By Fire" tells the true story of Cameron Todd Willingham, and by association, his ex-wife Stacey. Seven years later, an unlikely set of circumstances brings playwright Elizabeth Gilbert (Dern) into Willingham’s life. I'm reading these reports. Now What? It happened so quickly that I tried to put my foot on the brake, but I didn't even get there, and we just impacted. That individual turns out to be a playwright named Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), who volunteers to correspond with death-row inmates and winds up becoming convinced that Willingham (Jack O’Connell) is telling the truth when he swears that he didn’t set the fire. ], No, honestly I didn't feel like he was manipulating me. ISIS is in Afghanistan, But Who Are They Really? She's in her 30s, she has a husband, a house, they're trying for a baby - and she doesn't want any of it. So I began corresponding and visiting with him, ... and the more I learned, the more I became intrigued and began to think that maybe there was something to his -- he said that he was innocent, and I thought I would try and help him. Trial by Fire is the true-life Texas story of the unlikely bond between an imprisoned death row inmate (Jack O'Connell – Money Monster, Unbroken) and a mother of two from Houston (Laura Dern – Big Little Lies, Wild) who, though facing staggering odds, fights mightily for his freedom. This is the edited transcript of an interview conducted on Jan. 14, 2010. I had been in a place in my life -- a relationship had ended; my parents were getting elderly -- I was kind of adrift. A red flag to me was Johnny Webb. ... [I'm envisioning that in Corsicana, more people than not would be anti-Todd in that community.]. Informacje o Infomacje o filmie Chrzest ogniem. Probably when I was up there, … and it wasn't so much Todd, but just the enormity of this horrible event, was in looking at the pictures of the children. (l-r) Laura Dern (playing Liz Gilbert), writer/director Edward Zwick, and Jack O'Connell (Cameron Todd Willingham) on the set of Trial by Fire (Photo by Steve Dietl / … I didn't know what the story would be. ... Todd was more of -- we were kind of both rule breakers. Check out the trailer below. Readers' comments that include profanity, obscenity, personal attacks, harassment, or are defamatory, sexist, racist, violate a third party's right to privacy, or are otherwise inappropriate, will be removed. And I remember flying forward, and I heard someone scream in the back seat, and I'm all by myself, but it was me screaming in the back seat. After examining the evidence, Hurst concluded that … Now Dern and Gilbert share why they hope the movie will help bring about the end of capital punishment. There were too many other personal things going on at the time. It Was A Banner Year For Asian Representation. But I think he and I both shared that. At the time of her sentencing, the judge said he wanted to make sure Sarra never … Still, new process and all, she hopes to continue her craft. TRIAL BY FIRE is the true-life Texas story of the unlikely bond that formed between Willingham and Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), a Houston mother of two, who battled against the state for 12 years to try and save Willingham by exposing suppressed evidence and illogical conclusions. In the wake of the murder of six Asian women in Atlanta, why do we talk about representation like it’s the solution to racism? The day of Todd's execution, were you told at all? I hadn't really talked about the grief. It seemed to be he didn't have the resources. He never denied it. When Gilbert, a playwright, became his penpal, she realized that the arson investigation had been mismanaged and witness testimonies had changed dramatically from the day of the fire up to the trial. …. The film stars Jack O'Connell as Cameron Todd Willingham and features Laura Dern, Emily Meade, Jeff Perry and Jade Pettyjohn in supporting roles.. [Tell me about your interview with Willingham's defense attorney, David Martin. Here, in “Trial by Fire,” we deal with a dilemma: is Todd guilty or, as he professes throughout, is an innocent man being put to death? He did tell me the story of what happened, and I remember just hearing him tell the story, and it was just very tragic, and being very moved that this person could have lost his three children and his wife and his life and be innocent. 7 min. The one thing that did strike me was ... [Martin] said, if Todd were ever able to get out of prison, he'd be a dangerous person. … In reading the records, though, if I remember correctly, it was the little girl [Buffie, called "Barbara" in Willingham's police interview] that Todd sent for help, because Todd didn't have a phone. An unlikely bond became his only chance at redemption. It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2018. [I'm just trying to envision what it was like to be interacting with Todd. ... [What happened as your investigation continued?]. It's 3 a.m., and Elizabeth Gilbert is sobbing on the bathroom floor. I had access to his family; I had access to all of his friends; I had access to anybody who could have told me another version. That was too hard to bear. "I started being able to write again using a voice-activated software. With Jack O'Connell, Laura Dern, Emily Meade, Chris Coy. … I think what he needed the public to believe was that he wouldn't have been a person who just ran out and saved himself. Jack O’Connell portrays the fear and grief of a wrongfully accused prisoner in a way that seems as realistic as I would be familiar with personally. Just having walked into a prison environment, sat there for two hours, the effect that it had on me. "The [process of] making of the movie and rereading his letters and actually hearing the real words from his last letter to me [made me realize] I was the right person at the right time. For example, they would always say, "Well, his prior criminal record was shoplifting." As the jury listened in Ulster County Court, Gilbert said it … If he thought something, it was one way. This was all very new to me. David Martin, he came over to the bed-and-breakfast where we were staying for the interview, and he talked about the trial. In order to foster a civil and literate discussion that respects all participants, FRONTLINE has the following guidelines for commentary. Things go badly for almost everyone involved and then some. Can you start from the very beginning with your involvement with Todd? While Cameron is on Death Row, a schoolteacher named Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern from Star Wars: The Last Jedi) starts writing to him, and the two strike up a friendship. I promised Todd that I would attend the execution. Yeah, he was definitely very abusive to her. And the [car] accident made sure that I didn't have to go up there. Trial By Fire is a story of one such case involving Texas’ Cameron Todd Willingham. ... Can you tell me how he described his children and his relationship with them to you? … They were very adamant that Todd was not trying to save the children, that he was faking that he was upset. TRIAL BY FIRE – La trágica historia de Cameron Todd Willingham Trial by Fire es una historia de la vida real que supera la ficción. I was just really appalled, and I really kept quiet until I saw the governor [Rick Perry] get on and repeat the same words that the prosecution had used in the penalty phase: that he was a monster. The film stars Jack O'Connell as Cameron Todd Willingham and features Laura Dern, Emily Meade, Jeff Perry and Jade Pettyjohn in supporting roles. In the court records, the prosecution started treating him in a way that I thought, what they're accusing him of and what I see -- they're not matching. But every question I had, Todd had an answer for. 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