I recently had the absolute pleasure of interviewing actress Rachel Spencer Hewitt who stars in the new Christian film Return to the Hiding Place as Aty van Woerden, the niece of Corrie ten Boom. Rachel is one of those “rarer than gold” individuals that you meet only a few precious times in life. You feel like you are sitting down with the oldest of friends, yet you never forget that she’s an incredibly accomplished and talented artist/actress/human being. She beams with the love of God and her personality is captivating in a tender yet tenacious way. I conversed with Rachel over the phone and via email several times before I actually met her, so we already had a natural dynamic and rapport. But I’ll never forget the first time I laid eyes on her in person. She walked right up to me with a beautiful smile and embraced me in the biggest, warmest bear hug. (Since I am practically a professional hugger, it’s a big deal for me to say that I was blown away!) I never expected such a welcome. I would freely describe Rachel as a delight and a treasure, and I’m so excited for you to meet her. See her professional bio below the Q&A session!

Lizzie: Rachel, I have to know… As a person of faith in a strongly secular culture, what drew you to the entertainment industry?

Rachel: I was drawn to the art of storytelling from a very young age. My parents were both artists and I quickly realized I shared their language for poetic, abstract expression in different media: paint, pencil, song, dance, acting, writing, etc. The entertainment industry is very different. I love the art of storytelling as an actress; I tolerate the entertainment industry as a vehicle for my stories to be heard. Navigating that balance is a challenge to the soul and spirit, I think. It makes remaining clear on the character of Christ so necessary to remain genuine as you pursue the art within the industry.

Lizzie: What is your favorite memory from being on set and filming Return to the Hiding Place?

Rachel: Oh my gosh, so many. How hard to choose!!! I think the first day I stepped on set. It was like this magical world of angels setting up to witness the story of our characters unfold. The behind the scenes world has always struck me as an extraordinary parallel to the spiritual realm. They bear witness to our story. What narrative are we asking them to see? But back to the memory: on a funny note, actors get a day off and producers don’t. I’m an actor and my sister is a producer. One day a few actors rented a boat to go on the lake where we filmed in Michigan. I texted my sister to invite her. She said she couldn’t go. When I asked why, she texted back – quite lovingly, actually – “Only Actors get the day off, Rache….” With a dry-face emoji. I texted her back, “Looks like I picked the right job!” …It’s a good thing she loves me so much! Haha!

For a more somber memory, I remember shooting the scene where my character, Aty, faces the Nazi general von Laeman. Von Laeman confronts Aty for bringing disabled and Jewish children out for a walk with Aryan children. He accuses her of wrong-doing and calls the disabled and Jewish children “God’s mistakes.” Without missing a beat, Aty responds forcefully, surrounded by soldiers, “there are no mistakes!” The first time that line flew out of my mouth with the cameras rolling, my heart leapt in my throat. We continued to film the scene for multiple takes, and the actors playing von Laeman and other soldiers were really kind, warm people in-between, but I finished the day of filming completely chilled to the bone and still unable to swallow around the emotional lump in my throat. I couldn’t shake the vice-grip of Aty’s insane bravery and clear conviction in such a clouded, oppressive moment in time. One of the acting coaches took me aside later that day when I apologized for my melancholy. She encouraged me that this is what real actors are: people who lend their emotional soul to the telling of someone’s story. On a professional level, I registered very clearly what I believed my craft to be. On a personal level, I was completely, unalterably changed in that moment on my definition of “conviction.” Could I do that in real life, what Aty did? I still shake not being able to answer confidently yet, but I now spend my days pursuing the character in me that would say “yes.”

Lizzie: How do you personally allow this story (and the character of Aty van Woerden) to impact your modern day, faith-based life?

Rachel: I guess I touched on that a bit with the previous memory on set. Aty van Woerden is the most inspiring, powerful, complex, warm, intelligent women I’ve ever played. Two credits deserved here: 1) In real life she had unwavering faith and conviction that couldn’t help but flow into her every day action; 2) She is one of the few female film characters written complexly and unapologetically strong and good. The impact on my faith in an artistic sense is that Aty became an anchor for me as an actress; a lighthouse when the scripts flood in with terrible/underwritten/indulgent/objectified women – I remember I don’t have to settle. It’s possible to write and produce a great female part – the writer just has to believe they exist. The impact on my faith as a woman, mother, wife has made me undyingly grateful for my freedoms. That I only – at this point – have to philosophize about whether or not I would risk my life. The question for Aty and her fiance and friends was literal. After walking in her shoes down the timeline of her young life, I made it a personal mission to know what about my Christian faith makes someone so unshakable. I’m obsessed with knowing. It’s all rooted in a relationship with Christ.

Lizzie: This film has so many layers of significance! Besides the beautiful and powerful story of Corrie ten Boom and the previously untold story of her student army, what other underlying messages did your family seek to communicate with the production of this film?

Rachel: The richness of this film is what destined it for timeless legacy, joining ranks with the original. The layers unfold something new each time I’ve seen it. Again, that the writing was so powerfully true to history without watering down the message or miracles that existed in real life makes this story larger in truth than could have ever been imagined. One of the contemporary issues it is being used for is fighting anti-semitism. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with Israel’s politics, it is sheer delusion to reject the very real threat that much of the growing, radical Arab world campaigns not for Israel’s compliance but for her annihilation. In addition to the systematic persecution of Jews, Christians in the Middle East are being slaughtered in droves for their faith. We have the illusion of an ocean separating us right now, but we can’t forget that water is cross-able. That means two things: 1) it can come to us, but – more importantly – 2) WE can go to THEM! To the hurting, dying, persecuted – we have the opportunity to be their hope, and yet we sit back with relative indifference. The film makes a very clear parallel between the atrocities of radical tyranny during WWII and the parallels with the atrocities of radical tyranny of ISIS happening NOW.

Another theme the film highlights is the value of life deemed “sub-human” by the prevailing society. From protecting hunted Jews to unwanted Children, the heroes in Return to the Hiding Place give their lives to save those targeted for elimination. It again wakens us to recognize that same calling is on the audience to do the same today in rescuing the unborn deemed unfit or unwanted.

Lizzie: How would you like to see this film influence our culture?

Rachel: I want to see it create the revolution it’s designed for: Christians growing an intolerance for their own comfort until their brothers and sisters in Christ and the people of God receive universal protection from the crimes against humanity forced upon them every day. I want to see the American Church wake up and realize they are not the persecuted, they’re the fighters. I want to see the family of Christ in the West join with the family of Christ in the East to create unstoppable support and resistance that is life-saving and history-changing. I would think that this passionate hope were unreasonable except that our film reveals it’s more than possible to accomplish. It just take a few ordinary people who believe in and extraordinary God and become obedient to Him.

Lizzie: As a thought leader for this generation, what would you like to communicate to your contemporaries who share your Christian faith?

Rachel: Don’t let any believer or non-believer make you afraid of the darkness on the horizon. Whether it’s small as an unknown future or large as global-political warfare and conflict. Our God is great, and our calling comes from that greatness. The greatest success our fear can have is limiting our movement. Move in spite of your fear. Have confidence in the God you know over the future you don’t. And don’t forget that this comfort of civilization, this privilege of freedom, this moment of peace must be maintained in every moral act and opportunity in our government, our attention, our time and energy. It all matters. It all counts. In this story, you’re being tapped for the hero. Don’t pass it up.

MORE POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

Return to the Hiding Place is available on DVD at www.Hide-Movie.com

Read my (Lizzie’s) commentary/review on Return to the Hiding Place!

Rachel’s Professional Bio:

Rachel Spencer Hewitt was born in San Antonio, Texas where she began performing at a very young age, training in acting, singing, and all styles of dance. She entered Trinity University on the prestigious Baker-Duncan scholarship for theater, and upon graduation, attended the Yale School of Drama MFA Acting program where she earned a coveted scholarship and was awarded the Pierre Andre-Salim award for raising the standard of excellence.

Since receiving her MFA from Yale, Rachel has consistently performed all over the world, from playing Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the English Theater of Vienna, to the world-premiere of the new musical “Fly by Night” in Palo Alto, CA, to her off-Broadway debut in Paula Vogel’s new play, A Civil War Christmas (directed by Tina Landau at the NY Theater Workshop) and understudying Peter and the Starcatcher off-broadway.

She has also performed in several consecutive shows at the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Co. in Washington, DC, including playing Beatrice in A Servant of Two Masters, Madeline in Strange Interlude (directed by award-winning director Michael Khan), Much Ado About Nothing, and All’s Well that Ends Well.

Rachel is based out of New York and can also be seen in films playing characters such as Aty in the multiple award-winning film, Return to the Hiding Place, and has recently started writing a new TV pilot while continuing to perform on screen and stage.