Cast and Crew

Characters

characters

Aaron

A Marine vet carrying more than addiction. He lost his daughter to an overdose — and now he's fighting to stay alive, for real this time.

Pamela

She’s been on methadone for years, but still feels judged. A mother in recovery, trying to rebuild trust, one quiet day at a time.

Emma — Played by Skye Barak

A single mom stuck on a waiting list. She carries the weight of uncertainty — quietly asking for help in a system that makes her wait.

Dr. Robert DuPont

A longtime voice in America’s medication assistance programs. As the first director of NIDA and later the nation’s Drug Czar (1973–1977), he helped shape national policy on addiction. His legacy looms over every debate about methadone.

Dr. Emily Dufton

Drug Historian and author of the forthcoming Addiction, Inc. Medication-Assisted Treatment and America’s Forgotten War on Drugs., which shows how a radical public health experiment in methadone became a profit-driven industry—and why that history still shapes patients’ lives today.

Melody Glenn, MD

Dr. Glenn is an author and associate professor of addiction and emergency medicine at the University of Arizona. Her book, Mother of Methadone (Beacon Press, 2025), blends memoir and history, tracing methadone maintenance and its founder, Dr. Marie Nyswander.

Lev Facher

Addiction and overdose crisis reporter at STAT—and a 2025 Gerald Loeb Award winner for his series “The War on Recovery,” which exposed how policy and industry barriers deny many people access to lifesaving, evidence-based medications for opioid addiction.