Operation Smile Goes to Hollywood
CBN.com Some heavy hitters in Hollywood have stepped up to the plate to support the worldwide mission organization Operation Smile in the new movie called Smile. The “A list” Hollywood cast includes: Linda Hamilton, Beau Bridges, and The Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin.
Director/writer Jeffrey Kramer has a personal connection to this project.
"The biggest challenge was to turn out a product or a piece of art that touched people," says Kramar, "because I wrote the script as well and the fact that it came from a story of my own daughter and from experiences in her life and personal experiences in my life."
Much like Jeffrey’s daughter, Katharine, the lead character leaves the pampered life of a Malibu teenager for mission work in China with Operation Smile.
She meets a Chinese girl, who lives a secluded life behind a veil to hide her face from a society that shuns her because of her deformity.
Smile deals with some thought-provoking issues. Executive producer, Martin O’Neal explains, "There’s a conflict involved with the way the society in China looks at that deformed child and how that affects her life. From the American perspective of it, the girl from Malibu is doing something that is not normal for her. It’s out of her comfort level. To go to a foreign country and experience this adventure is truly a conflict in her life."
Smile sends a strong message. When pampered American teens are sent overseas to help others that are drastically less fortunate, lives change.
Operation Smile founder, Bill Magee, says his own teenager’s life changed due to her mission work.
" Years ago, when we first started Operation Smile, my wife, myself, and our 13-year-old daughter went on that first trip to the Philippines," he says. "My daughter, Bridget, was our scrub nurse. She’s 35 years old right now. The key was we saw how much it impacted her life."
Smile is rated PG13 due to mature content involving teen sexuality.
A portion of this film’s proceeds goes to Operation Smile.
