Country music superstar — and now, screen actor – Tim McGraw plays Sean Touhy, the devoted husband of Sandra Bullock’s character, Leigh Anne, in Warner Bros.’ inspirational drama “The Blind Side,” which depicts the remarkable true story of All-American football star Michael Oher.

McGraw asserts that you don’t have to be a sports fan to appreciate “The Blind Side.”  “Whether or not you are interested in football, or sports at all, the story behind this movie is so heartwarming, I think it will appeal to everyone.”

The strength of Leigh Anne Tuohy’s personality made casting the role of her husband, Sean Tuohy, in director John Lee Hancock’s words “difficult.”  “When you’re around the Tuohy family, you get the sense that she’s the engine, but he is the glue that holds it all together.  Sean is completely self-assured and comfortable in his own skin.  He has that Southern ex-athlete attitude; there’s a swagger there.”

“We needed an actor who would have a real screen presence opposite the whirlwind that is Leigh Anne,” producer Broderick Johnson confirms.  “We had to have an actor who would make Sean feel just as important as she without having as much screen time.”

Hancock says they found everything they were looking for in Tim McGraw.  “When Tim McGraw’s name came up, I thought he would be a great choice.  I had admired his work in movies and he had all the qualities we were looking for.  It felt like a natural fit and he turned out to be fantastic.  I loved working with him.”

In fact, McGraw fit the role even more naturally than the filmmakers initially thought.  Both McGraw and the real Sean Tuohy had grown up in Louisiana , and, like Sean, the actor had also excelled in sports throughout his life.  McGraw attests, “I was always an athlete; I can’t remember ever not playing sports.  I thought that’s what I was going to do with my life…until I got to college and bought a guitar.  And the rest,” he grins, “is history.”

The actor adds that the similarities between him and Sean Tuohy were only part of the reasons he was drawn to the role.  “Sean is an all-around good guy, and the inspirational story of what he and his family did for this kid—the time, the effort and the love he put out—is pretty incredible.  Also, a positive movie about sports is something I really enjoy seeing because sports, if played the right way and coached the right way, can really teach you a lot about yourself and about life in general.”

As an actor, McGraw has also established a notable presence in feature films, beginning with his well-received 2004 debut in Peter Berg’s “Friday Night Lights.”  He most recently co-starred with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon in 2008’s hit holiday comedy “Four Christmases,” directed by Seth Gordon.  In addition, he was seen in 2007’s action thriller “The Kingdom,” which reunited him with director Peter Berg.

Opening across the Philippines on Jan. 27, “The Blind Side” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Warner Bros.’ new true-to-life drama “The Blind Side” is set to give Sandra Bullock a couple of career milestones: her biggest-grossing box-office hit (over $200-M and counting) and her first-ever potential Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Bullock is already vying for the Best Actress honor in the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for her sterling portrayal of a rich and feisty Southern woman who takes a poor, black teenager under her wing, and nurtured his abilities both on and off the football field, resulting in an inspiring story that is still unfolding today.

Casting on the “The Blind Side” began with Bullock, who producer Andrew A. Kosove says was “the first and only choice for the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy.”  Bullock read the screenplay and recalls, “It was a beautifully written script.  It had all the right beats in all the right places.  And I was amazed how [director] John Lee Hancock gave every one of the characters such a nice arc…each character has a distinct journey.”

Nevertheless, it took some convincing on the part of Hancock to get the actress to accept the role of the headstrong wife and mother.  Hancock remembers, “Sandy liked the script but was having trouble figuring out how to portray Leigh Anne.  We would meet and she would ask all kinds of questions, but I wasn’t able to come up with the answers she was looking for.”

“That was my biggest reservation,” Bullock affirms.  “John would try to explain her to me, but he’d always fall short.  I kept feeling something is missing.”

Hancock continues, “I think Sandy was understandably frustrated with my inability to describe the character, but that’s because Leigh Anne is indescribable.  It’s one of the wonderful things about her.  Finally I said, ‘Sandy, you just have to meet her.’  So we went down to Memphis and I introduced her to Leigh Anne.  It turned into a full day spent with Leigh Anne and everything that involves: craziness and mayhem and fun and laughter and getting a lot of stuff done in very short order.  At the end of the day, Sandy turned to me and said, ‘Okay I get it.’  She had experienced firsthand the tornado that is ‘Tuohy time,’ and we were off and running.”

“Once I saw the whole package, I realized why John couldn’t explain her,” the actress states.  “How can you explain that kind of energy?  By the end of one day with Leigh Anne, I was exhausted.  She manages to do what she wants to do in the manner she wants to do it.  She doesn’t care what it takes; she just gets it done her way.  All I can say is, if there were more Leigh Anne Tuohys, the world would be a better-run, more harmonious and more productive place…as long as it was by her rules,” she laughs.  “It was terrifying to think of playing her, but it was a challenge I couldn’t say no to.  She’s such an amazing person.”

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

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.

Family and football were two things All-American football star Michael Oher had never experienced in his life.  But they ultimately became the two things that changed his life forever, in Warner Bros.’ new inspiring drama “The Blind Side” which is one of the surprise blockbuster hits of 2009 in the U.S.

Starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates and newcomer Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, “The Blind Side” is directed by John Lee Hancock (“The Rookie”), who also wrote the screenplay based on the true-to-life book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.

Growing up virtually abandoned in the poverty-stricken projects of Memphis —appropriately called Hurt Village —Michael had had few options and even fewer opportunities.  But that was before he crossed paths with an unstoppable force in the person of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock).  What followed was a series of events that would be hard to believe…except for the fact that the events are true.  Michael became a member of the Tuohy family, who nurtured his abilities both on and off the football field, resulting in an inspiring story that is still unfolding today.

Director/screenwriter John Lee Hancock states, “It really is two different stories, one of which is more of a question: Who is Michael Oher and why did the stars align to shine so brightly on this kid from the projects in Memphis ?  And then on the other side, it’s a great story about how this unique family evolved, and the unconventional mother-son relationship at its center.  Sports, specifically football, was the engine that propelled the story forward, but he could have been a dancer or a pianist—it wouldn’t have made any difference.  The journey that Michael and the Tuohy family go on is the heart of the movie.”

Sandra Bullock, who stars in the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, notes, “The beauty of the story is that you think it’s one thing and it turns out to be something else, and those are usually the best things in life.  I thought the script was going to be about football until I read it and realized that it’s really about family.”

She adds that, while it is obvious how much the Tuohys did for Michael Oher, “it was not that one-sided.  They certainly did a good deed in taking in this young man in such a loving and generous way.  But, in turn, he brought out a side of their family that they didn’t even realize was missing.  The family seemed to have all the success and joy in the world, but when Michael showed up, it was as if he was the final piece to the puzzle.”

The actress’s observation is confirmed by her real-life counterpart, Leigh Anne Tuohy, who offers, “I think Michael had a much greater impact on our lives than we did on his.  You take so much in life for granted, but when Michael moved in with us, he made us realize how blessed we are.  We viewed life differently after he joined our family.”

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