Lifetime's "A Rose for Her Grave: The Randy Roth Story" Shines a Light on Domestic Abuse

The film marks a dark turn for Egglesfield, who was ready for the challenge. "I think what actors love to do is play roles that are departures from who we really are," he recently shared while promoting the film. "I've had the privilege of working on so many great romantic comedies, but after a while, it's fun to explore different parts of who we are and go to some of the deeper, darker places that you don't necessarily get to go to.

"I find acting very therapeutic," he added. "It can be uncomfortable, and especially with this film playing someone who's a real-life person, shooting some of these scenes was incredibly intense. Working with the two young boys who played my sons in the film, we were constantly checking in with each other to make sure that we were all okay. As a real-life story, we wanted to make sure we were honoring the content, not glorifying anything, and making sure we portrayed these characters as realistically as possible."

"This was challenging in that trying to put yourself in a situation where you're with this person you think is the love of your life and you have these moments that they show another side," Ramsey said. "Trying to portray how that would have been in real-life and in the scenes where he's yelling, you have to be extremely vulnerable. But I felt so comfortable working with Colin, and I felt safe to be able to explore those avenues within myself and bring to light what could have been in these moments for Cindy.

"The bottom line, and what really helped, was we just trusted each other through this whole process," Egglesfield added. "The great thing [was] knowing Chrishell for so many years and having worked together on All My Children, we have such a great relationship. We're like brother and sister, so it's easy for us to step into these characters and be able to go to these deep dark places. We needed to be able to trust each other."

Egglesfield is hopeful that sharing these tragic stories will help enlighten those possibly in an abusive relationship, or observant friends, to say something and get help. Stause hopes for the same thing. "We all have either been this person or had this friend and you're telling them, 'I don't think this is a good idea,'" she said. "But you're walking that line of, how much do I want to insert myself? Making a divide between two people who are close is a huge red flag. If somebody really loves you, they should love that you have that support system.

"[Randy] was very controlling, even down to what [Cindy] wore and how her nails were," she continued. "And then she just started to look different, her energy started to change, and as her best friend, [Lori] picked up on all of those things. In real life, I'm sure everybody can relate to this as everybody's had a friend that you don't approve of who they're dating and you do have to balance how much you insert your opinion, then realize when it's time to back off."

In portraying the doomed widow/newlywed Cindy, Ramsey identified with her character's need for this relationship to succeed and why she stayed. "I was going through a divorce at the time," she recalled. "So, I channeled the feelings of loss of family, vulnerability and wanting something to work out so bad because you have children involved. You're almost in denial because you want this fairy tale thing that we all fantasize [about]. When the reality is not that, you'll do anything to keep it going and keep it together. I could relate to all of that."

"Everyone described [Randy] as one of the most outgoing, friendly, gregarious guys," Egglesfield said. "He cared about his sons, but what was difficult, and I struggled to try to understand, is how could someone do what he did in terms of having an absolute disregard for someone else's life? That he could just so easily dispose of two wives and move on as if nothing ever happened.

"These types of characters are interesting because I always try to find out how someone became that way," he said in closing. "Trying to delve into the psyche, and understanding, of how someone becomes who they are. Once you start delving, you can kind of see why they'd make these decisions or be able to do what they did. It was very disturbing doing some of these scenes and something difficult for me to relate to."

A Rose for Her Grave: The Randy Roth Story will be telecast Saturday, February 18 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.

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