Elizabeth Smart has never shied away from the trauma she faced at fourteen years old. This weekend, she faced it in a whole new way, by watching I Am Elizabeth Smart — the movie she produced and narrated about her abduction.
Smart told E! News that, despite working heavily on the film, and having an intimate knowledge of the script and events, it was hard for her to watch.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“I never want to watch it again,” Smart said. “That’s how good it was.”
Smart is 30 years old now, and she works as a victims’ rights advocate. She’s married with two kids of her own. Her lifestyle is built around acknowledging the trauma she faced rather than hiding from it, yet that couldn’t stop the movie from reaching her in a profound way.
“I had been over the script probably about 100 times…then I narrate a lot of it, so I had seen a lot of the difference pieces, and then finally watching the whole thing come together in one format, it was terrifying,” she said.
Smart added that she had watched the movie alone, against her better judgment. She told E! News that her husband was downstairs with their children when the movie aired on Saturday, and Smart considered turning off the TV.
“I kept thinking, ‘I don’t have to watch this right now! I don’t want to watch this! I’m just going to put it away.’ Then I said, ‘No, I have to watch it. I have to know how it turns out,’ just because it was so accurate. It was terrifying and so intense and part of me was like I don’t know if I want to feel all of these emotions again,” Smart recalled.
Smart was abducted by religious extremists in 2002, and held captive for nine months in inhumane conditions. The movie tells the story of how she facilitated her escape.
Most Viewed
-
(Credit: Rafa Jodar / Getty Images) -
NORTH BERGEN, NJ – AUGUST 23: Exterior view of a Walmart store on August 23, 2020 in North Bergen, New Jersey. Walmart saw its profits jump in latest quarter as e-commerce sales surged during the coronavirus pandemic (Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress via Getty Images) -
TV talk show with female celebrity flat vector illustration. Woman sitting on sofa and talking with host, discussing news in studio. Videographers filming broadcasting. Television, interview concept -
A ring of vibrant marigold flowers with glowing candles at the center, set against a dark background. (Credit: Eduardo Monroy Husillos / Getty Images) -
NEW YORK CITY – DECEMBER 19: "Toil and Trouble" – Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn (Laurie Metcalf) who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side, on the CBS original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Dec. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke. (Photo by Michael Parmelee/CBS via Getty Images) -
Official promotional artwork for <em>The Voice</em> -
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 13: (L-R) Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom attend the 10th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on April 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)
