David "Lonely" Smith / Narrator

About the Job

The character portrayed is a White man in his late 20s–early 40s. At 16, David is sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, a crime born from a childhood of neglect by his drug-addicted parents and a desperate quest for attention. Decades later, his life takes a transformative turn when he participates in a prison dog training program led by Gabriel Jones, a former Army vet recovering from PTSD. Through his bond with rescue dog Bailey, a dog with a troubled past, David discovers a new purpose and undergoes a profound personal change. After 29 years of incarceration, the remarkable growth and healing achieved through the program helped David secure his release at a parole hearing, marking the beginning of a hopeful new chapter in his life. Reference: Photo of Brian Michael James, the real-life inspiration behind the story. Prototypes: Charlie Hunnam, Tom Hardy, Ben Foster