Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 03/27/25

Looking for a good movie to cap off Women’s History Month? I highly  recommend Audrey’s Children (in theaters this weekend). The little known but highly-consequential life of Dr. Audrey Evans, the dedicated British-born American pediatric oncologist known as the “Mother of Neuroblastoma” for her role in developing the Evans Staging System which has helped raise the childhood cancer survival rate from about 10% when she began her work to nearly 80% today. Notably, she also co-founded Ronald McDonald House. The charity was launched in Philadelphia in 1974 with help from proceeds from the chain’s Shamrock Shake to provide living space for the families of child cancer patients who needed to travel for treatment.

The role of Dr. Evans, who died in 2022, is brought to cinematic life by Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones). I spoke with her about the film which strikes just the right balance between celebrating medical idealism and shining a light on the professional politics that often goes on behind closed doors.

JWK: So, I’ve watched the film. It’s excellent and you’re excellent in it. What drew you to the role of Dr. Audrey Evans?

Natalie Dormer: I was drawn to Audrey Evans because I just couldn’t believe that such a trailblazing, dedicated woman was not a household name – that people didn’t know who she was, that I didn’t know who she was! I was mortified, especially as a Brit. That I had never heard of her before really surprised me. So, I thought, having read the script and realizing how grateful we should all be for her incredible work, that it just would be an honor to play her.

JWK: The movie also portrays Dr. C. Everett Koop who went on to become President Reagan’s surgeon general. As her boss at the time, he enunciated what I thought was an interesting theme of the movie – about the fine line between impulse and action. Do you have any thoughts on that?

ND: Yeah. I could paraphrase a famous George Bernard Shaw quotation that basically says that history is not created by the reasonable man. You have to have a little bit of being unreasonable in pushing against the status quo in order to get anything done. C. Everett Koop did that very much with making society face the dangers of smoking and Big Tobacco. Also he was very empathetic towards the HIV crisis was well. He was an incredible human being and deserves his own biopic – which I think is probably why Clancy Brown wanted to play him. You have give full credit to him for giving Audrey the position of head of oncology – the first female physician as head of pediatric oncology at CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). That he took that leap of faith at the time was revolutionary. Thank God he did. He saw the brilliance of her and he saw the compassion and the determination in her. She pushed him too. She challenged everyone. She was very good if she wasn’t given the answer that she wanted. If she was given a no she wasn’t arrogant. She wasn’t obstinate or rude. She would go back, recalibrate and find another way to ask the question.

JWK: I found it interesting how she tended to appeal to their better nature. Rather than condemning those who resisted her ideas, when she ran into a brick wall she appealed to the goodness in them.

ND: That’s completely true. The beautiful thing about Audrey is fundamentally her Christian belief, her faith. She fundamentally had a great faith and belief in humanity which is a beautiful thing. It really is.

JWK: One thing I really liked about the characters – particularly yours but also Dr. C. Everett Koop and her colleague Dr. Dan D’Angio who helped her as well – is that they are depicted as likable and dedicated people. A lot of times in movies these days the characters are so super edgy. It seems to me that, if you want to motivate good people to get into the medical profession, a movie like this is valuable.

ND: I agree with you. It also would have been easy to make a movie that was maybe a little bit too sweet or saccharine. Childhood cancer and mortality is also a horrific subject. So, I think it’s no small feat of the writer Julia Fisher Farbman to get that balance between the horror and reality of what pediatric cancer is without going too schmaltzy and saccharine at the same time about the journey that Audrey undertook.  Ami Canann Mann, the director, must be given great credit for striking that balance as well.

JWK: Also the backdoor politics that goes on in the medical profession was presented too. So, you’re right. The movie struck a good balance.

ND: I’m glad you believe so, John, because, you know, I believe so.

JWK: I was going to ask you about Audrey’s religious faith and what role it played in motivating her in her mission.

ND: Oh, she completely believed that she was called. She did. If anyone wants to look there’s a wonderful ten-minute interview with her on YouTube being interviewed by Julia Fisher Farbman, our writer and producer of the movie. She knew Audrey. She was almost like her honorary godmother. She was a family friend for many years. She interviewed her for a segment that she did called Modern Hero. It’s a lovely little ten-minute interview with Audrey when she’s in her eighties. She talks about how she heard a sermon once about a woman who cared. She felt that it was speaking directly to her, that she was a woman who cared. She even apparently wanted to call the movie A Woman Who Cared…I think (her faith) was absolutely vital and fundamental to her but she didn’t enforce her faith on anybody. It was her private intimate motivation that kept her going, I believe.

JWK: How would you describe her legacy?

ND: How would I describe her legacy? Life. Her legacy is life. She has literally given life to hundreds of thousands of children that otherwise would not have had it. I have had “Audrey’s children” as adults come up and hold my hand, having seen the movie clasped my hand and said “I am one of Audrey’s children. I would not be alive without her, Dan D’Angio and the Evans Staging System.” I’ve had that experience and it’s profound.

Then also you can’t underestimate the tens of millions of children and the hundredths of thousands of families that have been given some solace and help (by) Ronald McDonald House Charities that she co-founded. I think she’s given life and hope to hundredths of thousands, even potentially millions of people. That’s quite incredible for one human being.

JWK: Was McDonald’s at all involved in this movie?

ND: No, they were not.

JWK: Have you gotten any reaction from them?

ND: (laughs) You need to talk to the producers about that, not me.

JWK: What do you take from the movie?

ND: I take the power of the individual.

JWK: And what do you hope the audience takes from it?

ND: Probably the same thing. The world is quite the scary place right now. We all turn on the news and our news feeds and it’s quite the scary place right now. I think what you can do within your own lane, within your own neighborhood, within your own power for the greater good, I think Audrey would be the first to say don’t shirk that responsibility or duty – and do it with good humor. She had a wicked sense of humor.

She had a good sense of humor – as the animals in the film prove. I mean that’s all true, her bringing animals into the ward to cheer up the children – mice, birds, rabbits and so on and so forth. So, yes, there was something very earnest about telling this story but there is humor, self-deprecation, joy and love there as well. I wouldn’t want anyone to think that we are being too earnest about all this.

JWK: Children are very important to you too. In 2019 you made an ambassador for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the UK and I believe you’re an honorary member of their council.

ND: Yes, I am. I take that work very seriously. I’m proud to be an ambassador for Childline which is a 24/7 helpline for children in the UK which does phenomenal work. I certainly do what I can to help them when I can.

JWK: That’s great. So, what’s next for you?

ND: I am about to play Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and then I’m going back on stage to play Anna Karenina in the UK. So, I’m doing a little bit of screen work and then I’m going back on stage which is my home and my first passion.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.