Peter Facinelli, veteran of Nurse Jackie and Twilight, says he believes his new family survival drama, On Fire (2023), will help audiences comprehend the immense danger that many ordinary people experience during natural catastrophes.
“You watch the news and your heart goes out to these people, but you don’t really understand what it was like to be in it,” Facinelli told UPI in a Zoom interview recently.
During the Screen Actors Guild strike, Facinelli was allowed a waiver to talk publicly about his independent project.
“I liked that this touches upon fire issues and pays tribute to firemen and 911 operators, who don’t really get enough credit for what they do,” he said. “We wanted to leave off the film with a message of hope and maybe give pause to how we can curtail these fires that are still happening.”
The film was co-directed by Facinelli and Nick Lyon, who wrote it with Ron Peer.
It follows Facinelli’s character, Dave, a building contractor, who is stuck in a California wildfire with his pregnant wife Sarah (Fiona Dourif), teen son Clay (Asher Angel), and sick father George (Lance Henriksen).
“They’ve got a sick dad and a new baby on the way,” Facinelli said of the family, who is also living paycheck to paycheck in a mortgaged house without insurance.
“They have these mountains of issues that all of a sudden become little anthills compared to surviving the night,” he stated.
“When you’re thrust into a harrowing experience like that and have to put things in perspective, you realize, ‘Oh, my God, I’m not going to waste my time worrying about all of these minor details.'” ‘I’m just grateful to have my family.'”
The novel differs from others in its genre by focusing on persons who are unprepared for the perilous situations in which they find themselves.
“A lot of times, in these family survival films, you’ve got a poster of the dad hanging off a building,” Facinelli stated.
“In this film, the father does not have all the answers. He’s doing his best, and [the family members] rely on one another, and each character has a heroic moment.”
The actress believes Sarah is the bravest character in the film because, despite her fear, she strives to protect her pregnant child while crossing a blazing forest through smoke and fog.
“It is so incredible to watch her find inner strength and have [Sarah and Dave] really push each other,” Facinelli stated.
“There’s a point where she loses it and says, ‘I can’t go on.'” And my character encourages her, saying, ‘We can do this!’ Then I have a similar encounter later on, and she provides me the necessary boost.”
The real-life father of four children was freaked out simply thinking about being in a position like the one depicted in the film.
