Actress Skye Marshall, a US Air Force vet, plays an army sergeant in the faith-based film "Indivisible."
Her character, Sergeant Shonda Peterson, is aide to Chaplain Darren Turner, played by lead actor Justin Bruening in this David Evans-directed picture. Based on a true story, the film focuses on how Turner and his wife Heather are able fight through marital difficulties after his deployment to Iraq.
Because of her background, Marshall long wanted to play a role in a military movie, but had missed out on other opportunities over the years. At her audition for the producers of Indivisible, she saw fellow Grey's Anatomy alumna, Sarah Drew, who was already cast to star as Heather Turner.
At first, she did not know Drew was also the film's executive producer. Marshall tells Pure Flix's Pure Talk she could barely contain herself when that became clear.
"I scream and run probably three or four laps around the chair like a trained dog. And they were like freaking out by my response, but I was screaming because in that moment I knew what kind of powerful work I got to share on the screen with Sarah Drew in Grey's Anatomy. I knew in that moment finally I booked my military movie."
Marshall's character is a reservist called up and deployed to Iraq, forcing her to leave behind her young son and elderly mother. Her performance powerfully captures the emotional struggle of their separation. She says she hopes the film will give people a better sense of the sacrifices soldiers and their families make when they choose to serve in our nation's military.
Marshall's path from the Air Force to acting was not a straight one. She tried her hand at the corporate world for a time, working in marketing in New York. But she realized the glass tower and cubicle routine was not for her. Her mother told her to turn to the Lord.
"You need to ask God for clarity. You need to ask God, but whatever it is, you've got to do it."
Ask she did, and after two weeks of prayer she woke up one morning convinced the answer was to move to LA and become an actress. It took a bit longer and a few more instances of confirmation, but she eventually followed the Lord's guidance. Judging by the quality of her performance in Indivisible, it would seem she has found her calling.