Auditions Scripts for the Shattered Lives TV Miniseries

James Stewart is the protagonist.  He is a popular and successful student who appears to have everything going his way, but a troubled home life and worries about college belie his happy life.  He is partially responsible for the wreck that kills six of his friends, and he is sent to prison for his role in the accident.  He struggles in prison, dealing with attacks, death threats, and his desperate loneliness as he tries to forgive himself.  He finds redemption when he returns to his community and begs the father of his best friend who died in the wreck to forgive him. James appears in all ten episodes.

 Evelyn is a loving and caring mother, and while she has gone off on a international mission for their church, she remains committed to helping her son when he needs it. She returns early from her overseas mission as soon as she learns of the wreck. In this scene she gives him some important advice on how to deal with what could otherwise be a life destroying journey for James.  Evelyn appears in 9 episodes.

  Reverend John Wright is the minister at James Church. He appears in three main scenes in the miniseries. In all three he gives sermons to the congregation.   He gives three sermons in the miniseries, one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end, where he apologizes and asks James to forgive him.  All three sermons are powerful statements that provide structure for the series, establish the theme, and illustrate the power and meaning of forgiveness.

 Charlotte is picked on by her friends and appears weak, but she has a hidden strength that is revealed when she stands up to adults that adults that she believes are wrong.  She becomes James girlfriend when he returns to the community after prison.

Claire and Nathan, the parents of Andrew Stevens,  who is dating Scarlet Moore. are supportive of Andrew and Scarlet’s relationship. Just like their parents, Andrew and Scarlet are childhood sweethearts and expect to marry. Nathan is a mechanic, but he owns his own auto repair shop. The family is close and loving. Both parents are featured in later episodes after the wreck as they struggle with their grief over Andrews's and Scarlet's death.

 Eleanor is a single mother. She loves Sarah she struggles in later scenes after Sarah is killed in the wreck. Scene 8 shows her dealing with Sarah, who is James best friend. Sarah engages in risk taking behavior and hides it from her mother.  Eleanor plays   an important role in her own struggle with Sarah’s death.  She is the next to last holdout in forgiving James for his role in the accident.
 

 Blue Man is the head of an inside prison gang, meaning they don’t exist outside the prison. Members belong to this gang out of self-defense but they don’t want to be associated with a gang when they get out. Blue Man is a tough leader, but he stops short of being a really dark figure, as he would if he was the leader of a street gang (that exists both inside the prison and outside, on the street).  

Frank Carter is exactly what you would expect a Prison Ministry Pastor to be. He is kind, understanding, and empathetic, but he does expect the members to follow the rules.  He lays an important role in expressing the theme of forgiveness which flows through all the episodes.

Judge Baker appears in only one scene. The role is short but important. It places the focus on James but it is what the Judge has to say that delivers the impact of the scene as James faces his fate for his role in the accident.

Warden Kelly is a no-nonsense administrator. This is his main scene, in which he tells James that the prison Guard who was killed in the riot, asked that James speak at his funeral. The full answer to why he made this last request is revealed in the next scene, when James presents his eulogy to the entire prison population, in episode 10.