Abigail Cowen And Tom Lewis Relate To Their Redeeming Love Characters - Exclusive Interview

"Redeeming Love" is a historical romance depicting an epic love story as Angel and Michael face many obstacles to their relationship during the California Gold Rush of 1850. The highly anticipated film is based on the bestselling novel by Francine Rivers, and many fans are excited to see the story they already know brought to life on screen on January 21, 2022.

Actors Abigail Cowen of "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" and "Stranger Things" (via IMDb) and Tom Lewis of "Gentleman Jack" (via IMDb) are at the center of the film as the already beloved romantic leads, Angel and Michael. Prior to their film's release, the two actors sat down for an exclusive interview with The List to discuss their roles in the film. During the interview, they shared what drew them to this project, the most difficult scene to film, and how they each related to their characters in "Redeeming Love."

Was there anything that originally drew you both to this project?

Tom Lewis: The script, really. The script and meeting D.J. [Caruso], the director. I read the novel before I did my audition, and I got through it in one sitting. I just ate it up. I loved it. It was really eye-opening and not what I expected at all. It was much darker and harsher than I thought it was going to be, and as soon as I read that, I thought, yeah, I'd love to be involved.

Abigail Cowen: Yeah. And I mean, same with you. I read the script, and I was very impressed and inspired by Angel's story and strength. The love story was a beautiful one, and I [adore] love stories, so I was instantly, drawn in.

Like you said, it's a little bit darker than you might expect, and Angel definitely has a lot of dark moments throughout the story. Were there any scenes within that that were difficult to act?

Cowen: Yeah, I mean all of them. I mean, the tough ones were the abusive situations where she-

Lewis: Yeah, the bath [scene], that was hard.

Cowen: That was rough.

Lewis: I remember you had the day to do it. And I remember thinking, "Oh gosh, that's a tough one to do."

Cowen: Yeah, water kept getting up my nose and all that, but I wanted to go there. I wanted to do it. I wanted to make it as real as possible. I told DJ, as much as I can go there, let me. So yeah, it was definitely something new that I had never done, but yeah, it was quite difficult, quite challenging.

Lewis: It's a great thing about the movie, though, that they really do show that brutality 100%. They don't shy away from it, and some of the scenes can be hard to watch, but despite that, it is still a movie of hope and light and resilience and strength as well.

Were there any aspects of your characters that you related to?

Cowen: I think Angel's stubbornness, I would say. I related to her. The inner child in her, I felt like there was this sense of ... I feel like that's my theory on life, though. I think everyone has that. I think we are all our little inner children, and then as we grow up, we create more of a hard shell throughout life and experiences and stuff. I definitely related to that because I feel like that is a lot of who Angel was. She had been through insanely, way more difficult experiences than I've ever gone through, but yeah, her shell was very, very hard.

Lewis: But for her to retain that in a child is so like...

Cowen: Yeah, strong.

Lewis: Incredible, like the things that she goes through, would destroy anyone, really. For me, to think that she's able to come out of here with her head held high ... it's incredible.

Cowen: Incredible. Yeah.

Were there any ways you related to your character, Tom?

Lewis: I quite like the humor that him and Angel had, which is what really drew me to the script, especially in those early scenes between them when they're ... They had that thing of teenagers flirting and not really [being] sure. Neither of them had really done it before because you hadn't really had the experience with a guy that you actually liked, and I never really had experience with a girl, like speaking to her and trying to flirt with her. There was something so teenage and pure about it. That was, yeah, stirring to play. I really liked that aspect of him, and his innocence, his ability to kind of see the light in everything and the good in everybody was a beautiful thing to be able to play. One thing that, I don't know if I relate to it, but I would like to have that. I wish I had more of that optimism that he has. He's a very optimistic character.

"Redeeming Love," starring Abigail Cowen and Tom Lewis, is now playing in theaters.