Quinton Aaron, the actor who portrayed Michael Oher in the 2009 movie The Blind Side, says the new controversy surrounding the film does not change how he feels about its positive message.
“No, it doesn’t, because I feel like in the movie, not all facts are gonna be… not all of the story is gonna be a hundred percent [true] anyway,” Aaron, 39, tells PEOPLE, days after Oher, 37, filed a petition alleging Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy lied about adopting him. The former NFL player claimed the Tuohys manipulated him into making them his conservators and profited off a falsified version of his life story told in the hit film.
“We’re in the business of entertaining, and sometimes, there’s certain liberties that are taken from either the writer or producer or the creator[’s] standpoint to make the film [appealing] to a certain audience,” Aaron says. “And I think in doing so, they successfully put out something that has motivated an entire generation of people to do good.”
The actor says that he is still publicly recognized for his role in the film and says he’s encountered people who tell him “the story has changed their lives and in such a positive way.”
‘The Blind Side’ Cast Side-by-Side with the Real-Life People They Played
Michael Oher in 2016.
Scott Cunningham/Getty
“Even though it’s unfortunate how today’s current events are playing out between the family and Michael, I still feel like the movie itself has served a greater purpose than anyone could have hoped for,” Aaron says. “I don’t see a bunch of statements out there with people saying The Blind Side ruined their life, you know?”
The Blind Side featured Aaron in his first leading role. He costarred with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, who portrayed Leigh Anne and Sean, as well as Lily Collins and Jae Head as their two kids, Collins and Sean. The film received a Best Picture nomination at the 2010 Oscars; Bullock won Best Actress in a ceremony that Leigh Anne and Sean attended.
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Oher published a book earlier this month titled When Your Back’s Against the Wall: Fame, Football and Lessons Learned Through a Lifetime of Adversity. In the memoir, he did maintain a belief that “there were so many good things that came out of The Blind Side,” even though he identifies that “the experience surrounding the story has also been a large source of some of my deepest hurt and pain over the past fourteen years.”
In Oher’s recent court filing, he claimed he unknowingly authorized Leigh Anne and Sean to be his conservators back in 2004 when he was 18, thinking he was signing adoption papers.
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Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy with Michael Oher in 2008.
Matthew Sharpe/Getty
Martin Singer, a lawyer for the Tuohy family, called Oher’s allegation “outlandish,” “hurtful and absurd,” adding, “The idea that the Tuohys have ever sought to profit off Mr. Oher is not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous.”
Leigh Anne and Sean are “heartbroken” over the allegations, their attorney said in a statement, adding that they will “always care deeply for Mr. Oher” and that they “will never oppose” the termination of the conservatorship, “either now or at anytime in the future.”
Aaron, who released his first single “Lead with Love” earlier this year as he embarks on a music career, tells PEOPLE his new song is an expansion of work that started with The Blind Side.
“I wanted to use my platform to do other things that I love and still reach people and affect them on a greater level,” he says. “So I feel like this movie is still able to do that, you know?”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education