In the true and extraordinary story of “Prayer and Wing”, the Whites, a great family, learn about themselves and deal with various forces in a race against time. They join a group of determined individuals, including pilot Kari, who are called “angels” and are able to achieve miracles. Jesse Metcalfe plays the role of Kari, while Dennis Quaid portrays Doug White, who struggles to save his entire family from a certain tragedy. Despite having no experience flying a twin-engine aircraft, Doug manages to safely land the plane after their pilot unexpectedly dies mid-flight. The story follows the harrowing journey of the family as they navigate through survival, faith, and the help of the far-flung group of “angels”.
We talked with Doug about his experience, and Roma Downey who helped turn this story into a movie streaming on Prime Video.
Interviewed for Family Entourage.
I’m still sitting on the edge of my couch, wondering what is going to unfold and how this story is going to share a little bit of a bit with you. I know something about the outcome, it’s amazing. Doug’s Entourage Family is incredible.
It’s an amazing film with a real family, and I think when audiences see it on Amazon on April 7th, they’re just going to be blown away. I’m sitting here next to Doug, and it’s his and White Doug’s true life story. Our job was to tell this story and keep the tension in the narrative, while also uplifting the audience’s hearts when the ending occurs. This family, who were believers and prayed to God throughout the whole ordeal, managed to land this plane with God’s hand guiding them. If you think about it, you might pray for yourself if you were hurdling through the air like they were. I would probably say that there are no atheists on that plane. This is the incredible true life story of a family who boarded a small King Airplane and experienced the worst nightmare when the pilot unexpectedly dies and they have to figure out how to fly the plane. Well, Roma Downey showed me a wonderful script from writer Brian Eggeston on my desk.
On that Easter Sunday, when you reflect on it, how do you experience emotions? You might be struggling to protect the lives of your entire family, you might be giving birth, or you might be tying the knot. Regardless of the outcome, one aspect that fascinates me is how a day can appear ordinary until it becomes extraordinary, don’t you agree? Doug, FE
Thank you. You express gratitude. However, as time passes, whether it be months, years, or any other duration, you reach a stage where you cease questioning the reasons and simply exclaim, why, why, why, why? Why did the pilot not perish while assisting us in loading the luggage on the ramp? Why did the pilot not meet their demise during the journey? For a considerable period, you ponder the reasons behind these occurrences. Doug White:
It’s settled how much you bet, Roma and anyone else, before him with discussions about what little bit of a conversation about me, maybe a great choice is Dennis Quaid, but really, in this version of the movie, I will play the one who was going through your mind, I’m sure of it: FE.
“I was struck by the moment when Dennis said, ‘I have a script called ‘Prayer and Wing On’ that you would never read because you think it would be perfect and don’t know how to fly this particular plane.’ It was at that moment when I realized that I had a script on my shelf, literally gathering dust, that was a script I was working on, developing and preparing to put together. Somewhere in our conversation, he mentioned that he was actually a pilot and flew planes. And he also mentioned that he was interested in doing a spiritual podcast, so he came to meet with me for a podcast with him: RD.”
I am very satisfied with the outcome, I believe he is. They entrusted us with their story, and we are grateful to Doug for allowing us to see their own lives on the screen in this movie, but it must be strange for him to see his own life played out by someone else. I think I would find it strange too, but he obviously agreed to do it, and we ended up taking the script home with us.
FE: Doug, did you have any engagement with Dennis before shooting or afterwards?
On separate occasions in this film, both my daughter and son-in-law mentioned that Quaid’s mannerisms are absolutely eerie. When you asked me what Quaid said, I told you, “He called me a few days later and asked, ‘What was the answer?'”. Instead of that, you asked me, “What was the answer he told you instead of this?”. How did you come up with this instead of that? And when they were filming in Atlanta for six or five weeks, he got my cell number and called me four or five times. But before that, no, Quaid didn’t call me.
If you would, my character did a great job in getting the job. I watched how he talked with his hands and I could see that he watched me. I presented him with a plaque and personally flew down to meet all of our controllers when they came out the next year. There’s a YouTube video out there, but it’s about our conversation last week. I want to thank you for letting me get into your head these past six weeks. He said, “The fact of the matter is, we had the conversation last week.” They thought it was me, but the fact of the matter is, they saw him walking across the room from there back in time.
There was much more chaos or was it how you felt in the cockpit? At least the two of you collaborated so effectively. Darling, we wouldn’t have succeeded. And it was a comical mess. And he said, “I can’t hear what they’re saying now.” I replied, “Put her on speakerphone! We need to be able to hear what the command is saying too!” We were all working closely together. I watched the movie with my spouse and I found the way you and your spouse interacted with each other to be fascinating. Some of your actions in the cockpit may have been deliberate, and many of your responses were purely instinctual. It’s truly remarkable, FE.
In an attempt to stay alive, I was on the verge of perishing if I spoke up earlier. Throughout the entire duration, I kept all my emotions suppressed, but eventually, I lost control over them. Once we were transferred to ground control, if you were to listen to the complete recording on YouTube, it becomes evident that I was completely engrossed in the task at hand. We managed to maintain stability without any mishaps, diligently monitoring the airspeed indicator and attentively listening to the controller’s instructions. My concentration was so intense that I wouldn’t have even noticed if a hand grenade detonated next to me, without causing any shrapnel injuries. It was a focused sense of fear, DW.
Could you please explain that in more detail for us? Perhaps He guides us, He has greater knowledge, so we should wholeheartedly trust in our ability to walk in faith with God. It serves as a metaphor for our journey of faith with God. It’s amazing how death or life can be influenced by time. Even though it may be challenging, we can still see into the future with the knowledge we have. They were able to communicate not only because they listened and stayed focused, but also because they had a strong connection. Doug mentioned that he wanted to talk about these things, which made me think that it’s important to have conversations like this. Definitely, Roma.
Let’s go talk him down who’s been encouraged by the pilot on the ground, and let’s go to where Doug is filming the fantastic moment in the movie. There’s something in our own lives where we’ve asked for God’s help and we’ve prayed about it. But we all have something in our own lives where circumstances are exceptional and unusual. That’s maybe why we don’t have a plane to land, maybe why we don’t have a plane to land, maybe why we aren’t at the controls of a plane in our own lives. But I think God Thank it wasn’t a different outcome and the plane safely lands. We see the emergency services preparing on the ground for what will be a different outcome and the family joins in prayer. In the movie, I also trust that we need to remain focused and have the metaphor of difficulty as a movie sequence. If you think about it, it’s really like a movie.
We believe in the power of prayer, as an act of faith, that it works and that miracles from God can happen. You will be cheering and screaming at the end, and you will be on the edge of your chair. It is a great thriller. I think this film has many meanings and many layers for the general audience. Sometimes the answer is just to trust God and let go. And sometimes, we’re hanging on so hard, trying to control the outcome in our lives.
So, we think it’s the perfect time for the world to see a film like this. And of course, it’s a true story that happened to Doug and his family on Easter Sunday. And it will be released globally on Good Friday, which is April 7th, making it the perfect time for the Easter weekend. We are delighted that it will start streaming on Amazon. A lot of people worked their best and brought their excellent game to bring this film together. It takes a village to make a movie. And not just the amazing cast, including Jesse Metcalfe, Heather Graham, and Dennis Quaid, but also all the supporting players who really make this fabulous. Let’s give a shout out to them.
I cannot wait for audiences to have the chance to see it themselves and I thank you, Roma, for making it accessible for all of us to see. Thank you, Doug, for sharing your story. It is truly a message of hope and inspiration, perfectly placed. Absolutely, FE.