An actress and TV show creator starring in a supernatural drama focused on rescuing children from trafficking has gleaned some of her on-screen inspiration from real-life experience.
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Nicole Abisinio, star of “The Advocate,” a series streaming right now on Pure Flix, told CBN’s Faithwire the show is inspired, first and foremost, by the Holy Spirit.
But her own life also served as a baseline for the plot.
“The idea originally came in 2006 or 2007, when I was living in New York City,” Abisinio said. “I wasn’t a believer, and neither was the person who brought this idea to me, and I just thought that the show wouldn’t be picked up.”
At the time, she said, the world didn’t seem ready for the very heavy and pertinent subject matter she wanted the show to tackle.
“It’s an amazing project about a child protective agent who has supernatural gifts to be able to get ahead of the bad guys, get ahead of the predators,” Abisinio said. “At that time, projects like that just weren’t being done, they weren’t being made, they were often blocked.”
Flash-forward to 2020, and the actress said the dynamics in culture and society dramatically shifted, especially amid the perils and fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I felt like people were hungry for the truth,” she said. “I felt that they wanted projects that really mattered.”
And it seems Abisinio was right, as “The Advocate” was green-lit and is now a series on faith and family streamer Pure Flix.
The actress, who plays child protective agent Amber, hopes viewers and fans will think deeper about the importance and power of spiritual gifts, expressing her belief too many believers have pushed these biblical realities to the wayside.
But Abisinio, who also directs the show, hopes to help bring awareness to the horrific crimes impacting children today.
“I wanted to prevent and have awareness against these predators, which is in every state in this country now,” she said. “And I wanted people to feel edified and educated and … actually encouraged.”
Abisinio said the events depicted in the show are “all inspired by true events,” as she and her team spent time with SVU and human trafficking units to prepare for the shoot.
Some of the experience also came from her own upbringing.
“My mom actually was a detective my whole life,” Abisinio said. “She was a child abuse investigator, then she was a [private investigator]. … She ended up bounty hunting and worked in law enforcement.”
She said much of her childhood was shaped by her mother’s care for the “vulnerable.” With that kindness and tough work came experiences that helped shape Abisinio.
“Along the way, I’ve been exposed to, from a very young age, a lot of evils in the world,” she said. “My father tried to kill my mom and me before I was born. And then I was in hiding for …. a good period of time.”
Abisinio said she also helped bring down a predator when she was eight or nine years old who had abused her best friend.
“I feel like the enemy had robbed me of so many years of understanding where God was and all of that, and how much he loved me, and how much healing he could do,” she said. “And that he was actually using that to give me a voice to be able to help so many now.”
And that’s precisely what Abisinio hopes to do through “The Advocate,” using her talents and voice to shed light on important issues.
“That’s really what we wanna portray in this show is … trust that gut, watch your surroundings,” she said. “There’s so many safety tips that are helping people in it.”
Watch “The Advocate” now on Pure Flix.
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