New actor Quinton Aaron makes his major feature debut opposite Sandra Bullock in Warner Bros.’ inspiring drama “The Blind Side” which depicts the remarkable true story of All-American football star Michael Oher.

In the film, teenager Michael Oher (Aaron) is surviving on his own, virtually homeless, when he is spotted on the street by Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock).  Learning that the young man is one of her daughter’s classmates, Leigh Anne insists that Michael—wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the dead of winter—come out of the cold.  Without a moment’s hesitation, she invites him to stay at the Tuohy home for the night.  What starts out as a gesture of kindness turns into something more as Michael becomes part of the Tuohy family despite the differences in their backgrounds.

Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome.  And as the family helps Michael fulfill his potential, both on and off the football field, Michael’s presence in the Tuohys’ lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own.

Finding the right actor to play the role of Michael Oher posed the filmmakers’ biggest casting challenge by far.  He had to be the right age and have Michael’s preternatural size, but he also had to convey an innate reserve.

They discovered the perfect combination of size and personality in an aspiring actor named Quinton Aaron, who was living in New York when he was called in to audition for “The Blind Side.”  Two weeks later, he was being flown to Los Angeles to meet with Hancock and the producers.

“We looked at a lot of actors who didn’t quite fit the bill,” director John Lee Hancock recalls.  “When I saw Quinton’s tape, there was something about him that was missing in the other ones.  Then when he came in the door, my first instinct was to hug him, and it was that quality that first struck me.  He also has a face that draws you in; when he’s quiet and looks at you with those doe eyes, there’s a story there that you want to know.  I just had a gut feeling he was our guy…that we were about to change his life in a spectacular way.”

Learning he had won the lead role of Michael Oher “was better than any dream,” says Aaron, who adds that he felt a strong connection to his onscreen alter ego.  “When I read the story, I saw that we had a lot in common.  Neither of us knew our fathers growing up.  I was the biggest kid in my school; he was the biggest kid in his school.  I kept to myself a lot and was more of a quiet, shy kid, and that’s pretty much what he was like.  I also played some football at one point, but I wasn’t good at it.”

Hancock remarks, “I knew Quinton had played a little high school football, but the concern was that he had to look like he could really handle himself on a football field.  We got him involved with trainers, who set him up with a regimen of diet and workouts.  He lost a lot of weight, but, more importantly, he started looking like an athlete.”

Aaron, who lost more than 100 pounds in preparation for the role, relates, “I was determined to do anything and everything required, because if you love what you’re doing, you are going to give one hundred and ten percent.  Before the movie started I went through seven weeks of intense training, with two-a-day practices every day and we continued training through filming.  I felt so honored to be working with John Lee Hancock and Sandra Bullock who were also such an inspiration to me.  It was so much fun; I loved every minute of it.”

Opening soon across the Philippines , “The Blind Side” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.