Robin Roberts Says 'Angel in the Rubble' Tells the Story of a ‘Party Girl’ Who ‘Was Given a Second Chance'

Angel in the Rubble: The Genelle Guzman Story is the latest project to debut under Lifetime’s ongoing “Robin Roberts Presents” televised film series, but this was actually a years-in-the-making endeavor.  

Premiering just one day after the 25-year anniversary of the American tragedy, the Robin Roberts executive-produced feature sees actress Sherri Shepherd playing real-life 9/11 survivor Genelle Guzman-McMillan, who has become known as the last person pulled from the rubble. She was a New York City transit staffer working on the 64th floor of Tower 1, a.k.a. the North Tower, when Islamic terrorists hijacked a plane and crashed it into the building. Guzman-McMillan would later detail her story in her 2011 memoir Angel in the Rubble: The Miraculous Rescue of 9/11's Last Survivor.  

“I remember the first time sitting down with Genelle and I could only do, like, a five-minute piece for Good Morning America. And, I just knew [this was an important story]. I put on my production hat at that point and said, ‘This story needs to be told to a wider audience,’” Roberts, 65, tells MyLifetime. “The reason for that is because of her faith.”  

Guzman-McMillan credits her Christian beliefs with keeping her alive during the 27-period before she was rescued. “[We’re] telling people and showing people that this was a party girl, and she was given a second chance,” Roberts says of Guzman-McMillan.  “We don’t need to be in the situation that she was in, but I think that’s what really comes through in the film. She’s not giving up.”  

Roberts found it important to bring Guzman-McMillan’s story to a wider audience with Lifetime, as she notes what a “big proponent” she is for the network.  

“I'm watching these Lifetime movies, and learning something,” she says. “Everybody has a story, and learning a moment. It’s seeing how people just come together and they rise above. I’m a people person. I’m a storyteller. I love to hear the stories of others. They can draw a lot of comfort.”   

Angel in the Rubble: The Genelle Guzman Story is the fourth televised film released under the “Robin Roberts Presents” Lifetime banner. The journalist kicked off the franchise in 2020 with the Niecy Nash-Betts starrer Stolen By My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story, following a woman who was kidnapped as a newborn from a Florida hospital in 1998—and was found alive in 2017. This series followed up with separate films about gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (played by Danielle Brooks) and disco era legend Gloria Gaynor (played by Joaquina Kalukango).  

From Shepherd’s perspective, it was vital to execute “every single scene” in Angel in the Rubble properly because of the deep importance behind Guzman-McMillan’s story. “It’s hard. It’s a lot of pressure playing someone that’s still alive because you want to make sure you get their life right and your words right and their feelings right,” the actress, 59, shares with MyLifetime.   

When asked about being the subject of a Lifetime movie, Guzman-McMillan tells MyLifetime that it’s “overwhelming,” but that she’s also “so grateful and thankful” for the honor. Additionally, she sees it as an opportunity to share how she survived the unimaginable due to her faith in God. 

“It’s not by my strength that I’m here today to talk to you. It’s by God’s grace to get me here and tell this story,” she explains.  

Having Shepherd play a fictionalized version of Guzman-McMillan was an added bonus for the author, as they were able to connect with one another over their shared Christian faith and love for God. “She’s an awesome woman and I’m so glad,” Guzman-McMillan says, noting that “nobody” could have done a “better” job at this role than Shepherd. 

Guzman-McMillan says she made a “promise” to God while trapped under the rubble to change her ways should she survive, and she highlighted the importance of her faith when meeting Shepherd.  

“When I met her, I said, ‘Are you spiritual as well?’, because, you know, I believe in God. I believe in that world,” Guzman-McMillan continues. “I want people to know that Jesus Christ is the way. That’s why I feel I’m here today, to tell this story.”  

Roberts can relate to Guzman-McMillan’s story of triumph, as she too has overcome unexpected adversity The TV anchor was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2007 and later navigated a myelodysplastic syndrome diagnosis in 2012. In the years that followed, her wife, Amber Laign, also faced a breast cancer diagnosis in 2021. 

Despite everything she has endured, Roberts tells MyLifetime that she wouldn’t necessarily call herself a “survivor.” 

“I say thriver, discounting nothing about being a survivor,” Roberts shares. 

Roberts notes that she and Guzman-McMillan have similar outlooks on life today, noting that Guzman-McMillan is “not gonna be just satisfied to be here, satisfied to have survived 9/11.”  

“She wants to thrive, and that’s how I look at it too,” Roberts  continues. “You don’t go through something—and everybody’s got something. You don’t go through it and not come out of it saying, ‘You’re going to thrive,’ and just take everything else out of life. That’s what you gotta do.”