This story was originally published February 9, 2003.
Love is tough enough in the best of times, said Kirstie Alley. So the story of Donna and Ricardo Thornton--who have managed not only to survive but thrive--is a remarkable, heroic adventure.
Alley stars as Donna Thornton in "Profoundly Normal," which debuts Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBS. Delroy Lindo stars as Ricardo Thornton and Rosemary Dunsmore portrays social worker Charlotte Johnson.
The made-for-TV movie is based on a true story of two people who grew up in Forest Haven, the District's institution for the mentally and physically challenged that was located in Laurel. Separately, they moved into the community and learned to live independently. Eventually they dated, married and had a child--overcoming many obstacles along the way.
"I have so much respect for Donna and Ricardo," Alley said. "I have so much admiration for what they've gone through--and that they came out on the other side. They have the right to be bitter and they're not. . . . Somehow they have retained their sense of humor.They are very funny and clever."
Humor is an important part of the movie said Randy Robinson, executive producer. "Because Donna and Ricardo are charming and funny people--it's so much a part of who they are--I loved the fact that we could make a movie with the warmth and humor of handicapped people and laugh with them."
The film is not a dry documentary of the horrors of growing up in an institution, Robinson said, but neither is it a light-weight comedy.
"Profoundly Normal" intersperses scenes based on the Thorntons' lives with interviews of three central characters: Donna as portrayed by Alley; Ricardo as played by Lindo; and the couple's son, Ricky, as depicted by Kevin Duhaney.
"We chose to use the vignettes at the top of the movie to have Donna and Ricardo comment on how they find humor in our world," Robinson said. "They present uncensored, honest, perhaps naive, observations that show how humor is part of their lives."
The interviews can be thoughtful and poignant, such as Ricardo's observation in the film that "No one ever smiled when they called you 'retarded.' Maybe that would have helped . . . if they smiled." Then, after a pause, "Probably not."
Alley wanted to tell the story from the viewpoint of the Thorntons' teenage son, Robinson said. "And we were able to do that for some of the film, we were able to protect that. But we realized that much of the story took place before he was born and he couldn't have witnessed those things. We tried to create it as close as possible to Kirstie's vision, to be intelligent and sophisticated."
Alley was instrumental in getting the film made, Robinson said. She also is credited as an executive producer.
Originally Alley was approached for the part of the social worker. Joanne Baron, co-executive producer of "Profoundly Normal," showed Alley segments from CBS's "60 Minutes" about the Thorntons.
"When I saw the tapes, I knew I really wanted to play the part of Donna," Alley said. "I loved the love story. Donna and Ricardo had endured so much--they were institutionalized, had seen sexual abuse, seen children drugged and seen children die. Yet their relationship was like a flower coming out of the desert."
Lindo was perfect for the role of Ricardo,a difficult role to play, Alley said. "Delroy had all the subtleties of Ricardo.If you spent time with Ricardo,I don't think you would know that he was handicapped in any way . . . It's a very fine line to walk."
The cast spent time with the people they would portray for several days before filming started, Robinson said. "We had Ricardo,Donna, Ricky and Shirley Rees--the social worker, though a composite, is somewhat based on Shirley--meet the actors for some one-on-one time as well as in a group" in Toronto, where the movie was shot late last year. The Thorntonsand Rees, who is Donna's court-appointed advocate and friend, had input on the script and treatment, Robinson said.
Donna Thornton even has a small part in the film, he said. There is a scene where Alley, as Donna, is giving her first party. She makes cheese balls as a snack--but substitutes mustard for the cheese. Alley offers the snack to her guests--and Donna is the seated woman who waves the snack away.
"That was fun and exciting," Donna Thornton said. "I wasn't expecting to be in the movie." She has seen a preview copy of "Profoundly Normal" and loves it, she said.
The Thorntonsand Rees also spent time with Paris Qualles, who researched and wrote the script. The visits enabled Qualles to capture Donna's unique way of speaking, Robinson said. "It's not just the way she talks, but what she says."
The scenes are based on real events in the Thorntons' lives, though some dramatic liberties are taken.
Alley said she listened to the "60 Minutes" tape to determine how she would give voice to Donna's character. "It was a combination of a Washington, D.C., and Southern accent with a bit of a struggle to enunciate. It made me feel that I was being her," Alley said.
Making the movie has changed her perspective, Alley said. "I see a lot of things differently. The main thing is having the ability to differentiate between that was then and this is now. [Donna] taught me that lesson just by being around her. I found myself telling her my problems and she'd say, 'That's going to be all right--it's going to work out.' I'm pretty optimistic to begin with, but she rolls with the punches. She cuts through the complexities to the basic truths--and when she says it, you know she's right."
Alley also became more aware of the suffering that went on in institutions for the handicapped, she said. "It's hard enough to be handicapped, but the atrocities became real to me and gave me more cause to work for human rights." It also strengthened her anti-drug feelings "because there was a lot of drugging going on with these kids. This is a cause I've worked on for many years" as a spokesperson for a drug rehabilitation program.
Working on "Profoundly Normal" also gave Alley a different viewpoint on love, she said. "I learned that love will prevail and that if you give it a long enough time, it will work."
"Profoundly Normal" is a quirky love story, said Robinson. "I hope that's what it is. I hope the movie imparts the message that this is a deep heroic struggle by two people who weren't dealt an easy hand in life but aspire to a humble but normal life. Their dreams and goals in life are humble but heroic."
That thought is conveyed by Donna in one of the interview segments in the film when she says she and Ricardo weren't trying to be an inspiration. They were just trying to be like other people.
About the Thorntons
These are some of the important dates in the lives of Donna and Ricardo Thornton, who with their teenage son now live in the District:
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