Director Lasse Hallström and Robin Mullins on the set of Safe Haven.
Watch for Abingdon actress Robin Mullins in a significant role in the new film "Safe Haven," based upon the bestseller by Nicholas Sparks. The film was made last summer in Southport, N.C., and was directed by Lasse Hallström. The film opens Valentine's Day and stars Cobie Smulders, Julianne Hough, and Josh Duhamel. Mullins plays Maddie, the owner of a crab shack who befriends the main character Katie.
Here is how Nicholas Sparks describes the plot of "Safe Haven: "When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo.
"Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family. But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards."
Even though Mullins lives in Southwest Virginia and runs Forget-Me-Not, a boutique in Abingdon, she finds time to act in films and TV series. Her most famous appearances have been in "Nell' with Jodie Foster and Liam Neeson and "Cold Mountain" with Renée Zellweger and Jude Law. Mullins was a regular in the TV series "Rectify" and had roles in "Eastbound and Down" and "Hart of Dixie."
