One morning, during the first week of shooting, we arrived before Zoe did—which never happened. Zach seemed annoyed but not concerned; she had apparently called in to say she’d be late. When she did show up, she hardly acknowledged me and went straight to work. Her spark and energy were completely missing, and I watched her drag herself from one duty to another, seeming to avoid me on purpose as she moved around the sound stage. The pace at which Zach and the other directors drove the crew and actors on set was grueling, and unfortunately meant we had little time to talk anyway. She disappeared at lunch, showing up again only when everyone else had gone back to work. I sat in Jacks chair, trying to focus on the scene being shot but instead finding my thoughts turning back to her. God, I finally prayed, what is going on with her? Is there something I should do? I gave up trying to follow the action on the set and immersed myself instead in prayer.

While filming days are always long, this particular day seemed like it would never end, and as it wore on I could see Zoe becoming more frazzled and unlike her usual self. It took all the willpower I had not to seek her out at dinner; I knew I hadn’t somehow offended her, or she, honest and straightforward as she was, would have come out and said something. I talked to Jack over our sandwiches about what I’d observed, and we prayed together before he went back to work. I retreated to his chair to watch the action and pray some more.

Shooting wrapped for the evening at 12:30 a.m., and as we came out of Jack’s room, we found Zoe waiting for us, slumped against the wall. Before either of us could speak, she asked quietly, “Can I please come home with you guys?” I could see tears in her eyes, even though she avoided looking either of us in the face.

There was no need to even confer with each other. She received a double yes, and the three of us walked out to the lot without another word. Once at the car, she collapsed in the backseat and fell asleep at once. Jack dozed off as well, but I spent the half-hour drive home in fervent prayer for Zoe.

The next morning I took a chance and asked Jack to tell Zach that Zoe was sick and staying home. It took both of us to even wake her up when we got home, and when the alarm went off at 4:00 a.m., I couldn’t imagine getting her up. I said good-bye to Jack and then set myself up in the kitchen to do chores that had been piling up since before preproduction. It wasn’t until nearly 11:00 that Zoe staggered in with a slightly bewildered look on her face.