Broberg was kidnapped on two separate occasions from her close-knit Mormon community by Robert \u2018B\u2019 Berchtold, who had spent years grooming her to believe that her subservience to him was key to preventing an extraterrestrial attack.<\/p>\n
She chose to revisit this dark chapter in her life after feeling that Abducted in Plain Sight did not offer a fair depiction of her parents, who were also psychologically manipulated by Berchtold.<\/p>\n
The White Lotus<\/a> breakout star Jake Lacy plays Berchtold in A Friend of the Family and told RadioTimes.com<\/a> he was struck by Broberg\u2019s \u201cgrace\u201d in reaching out to him as he prepared to portray her abuser.<\/p> \u201cShe was remarkable,\u201d he began. \u201cShe offered up from the beginning any kind of contact information, discussions, anything that we wanted to have, she was available for it. And it was our choice as to whether to take her up on that or not.<\/p>\n \u201cI was hesitant, to say the least, to reach out because I was just scared\u2026 I was so worried that, as a caring human being, I would meet Jan and be so f****d up from it that it would mess with the work that we were trying to do \u2013 out of love and compassion for her [and] for what she\u2019s been through.\u201d<\/p>\n Sensing that Lacy could be feeling some anxiety about approaching her, Broberg took the first step by leaving a personal note in his trailer on the first day of filming.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first half talked about how \u2018B\u2019 [Robert Berchtold] was warm and generous and kind and a great storyteller and made you feel so special in his presence, and that was his superpower; to make you feel that way so he could take what he wanted,\u201d recalled Lacy.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then, [in] the back half of the note, she said: \u2018I\u2019m in a healthy place, I\u2019m okay. You don\u2019t have to be prioritising telling this story and also worrying about how I\u2019m doing. I\u2019m okay. You can go forth and do this work, and you\u2019re going to be great,’\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I am still at a loss for an ability to express what that meant to me\u2026 it\u2019s just remarkable. So selfless of her to do that for just some actor playing a role and her knowing, \u2018I bet this guy could use a little push toward doing this.’\u201d<\/p>\n Lacy explained that, as a producer, Broberg also helped \u201cbuild a world\u201d for the show by providing details about her childhood years that added real \u201ctexture\u201d to the scripts.<\/p>\n He explained: \u201cShe was both an invaluable resource, obviously, but also a champion for telling this story to make people aware that this still happens and this is what it looks like when you\u2019re being groomed.<\/p>\n \u201cA whole family is groomed, a whole town is groomed. It\u2019s not just a stranger in a shadowy alley jumping out at you. It\u2019s a person that you know and love and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/10\/jan-broberg-jake-lacy-446b3ad.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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