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Lee Hancock has made three feature films, each based on real people and events.
“You know, I really hadn’t thought about that,” the 42-year-old director said in a telephone conversation from Los Angeles.
“Everything I’ve ever written has been about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. That’s just me — I’m more drawn to ordinary people than those who fly around in tights.
“It’s not like I’m looking for real-life stories,” he said. “I’m just looking for good stories.”
So far he has found them.
His debut film, “The Rookie,” starred Dennis Quaid as a Texas high school baseball coach who in middle age finds himself pitching professionally for the Texas Rangers.
Hancock’s second, “The Alamo,” re-created that famous battle and featured Billy Bob Thornton in one of his finest performances as the legendary Davy Crockett.
His third, “The Blind Side” (opening Friday), finds him back in the world of sports, perhaps not so unusual for the son of a high school football coach.
In this true tale, Sandra Bullock stars as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy Memphis wife and mother who takes in a huge, nearly illiterate African-American youth. With compassion, a tart tongue and a bit of tough love, she turns him into a terror of the gridiron.
That young man was Michael Oher, now enjoying his first season as the offensive left tackle of the Baltimore Ravens.
Oher’s and the Tuohys’ stories were told in Michael Lewis’ nonfiction best-seller of the same title.
The movies can’t precisely duplicate reality, nor should they, Hancock said. But because he was dealing with living individuals, the writer/director felt a responsibility to stick closely to the spirit of the story if not to every specific. That was especially true in the case ofTuohy.
“A lot of people who will never read the book will get their ideas about this family from our movie,” Hancock said. “That’s a responsibility I take very seriously.”
The key to it all was Bullock’s portrayal of Leigh Anne, an energetic, indefatigable woman who could live a life of luxury on her husband’s income (he owns dozens of fast-food franchises) but instead maintains her own career as an interior designer and works on behalf of many charities.
“I’d read the book and went to visit the Tuohys in Memphis and like everybody else who’s met her, I was bowled over by Leigh Anne,” Hancock recalled. “She’s a force of nature. Getting her personality into the movie was essential. It’s a tough thing to capture, but Sandy did a great job. When you watch ‘The Blind Side,’ you’re seeing the real Leigh Anne Tuohy.
“Sandy’s stock-in-trade has been romantic comedy, but I’ve always thought she was underappreciated as a dramatic actress,” he said. “Plus, she’s from the South and understands that Leigh Anne was not a cartoon character.”
So forceful is Tuohy’s persona that it lends itself to stereotyping, Hancock said.
“I was determined to avoid that,” he said. “That would be lazy writing and directing. Yes, she’s a conservative Southern woman. Yes, she’s a church lady. But people are more complicated than that, whether they’re a Memphis matron or a New York cabbie. It would be disingenuous not to go after the truth.
“I think Leigh Anne and Sandy have overlapping personalities,” he said. “They’re both problem-solvers and fierce nurturers. They get more done before breakfast than I do in a week. Here Sandy embraced that part of herself and, wow, is she formidable.”
Casting the role of Oher required a nationwide search for a physically huge actor who could convey a sense of innocence and timidity.
“I got really fortunate,” Hancock said. “Michael was literally a tall order. We needed someone at least 6-5 or 6-6. The size disparity between the actor we chose and Sandy’s Leigh Anne had to be dramatic. We wanted an unconventional mother/son situation.
“We had lots of guys come in to audition who were that tall, but they had basketball physiques, not football player bodies. I was starting to worry about whether we’d find someone who could do it all when Quinton Aaron walked in.”
Aaron, a 25-year-old from the Bronx, had exactly the look Hancock was after.
“Not only did he fit the role size-wise, but Quinton had played some high school football and, most importantly, he’s a gentle giant.”
Aaron’s acting credits were thin, including a very small role in “Be Kind Rewind” and one scene as a bodyguard in a “Law & Order” episode.
“I don’t know if Quinton had ever had any training, but it didn’t take me long to figure out he was an actor,” Hancock said. “This role is more difficult than you might think. Michael doesn’t say much, so Quinton had to act with his eyes.
“And like most great actors, he’s a good listener. That’s Job One for an actor. He would really listen to what you wanted, and then he was good to go.
“What I didn’t realize until later is that he also sings like an angel. Apparently he’s done some musical theater.”
Hancock said his relatively low movie output — “The Blind Side” is his first film in five years — is because of his insistence that his movies be about something real.
“I wrote four screenplays in that time,” he said. “For one we had already scouted locations and were ready to go when the money dried up. It’s a tough marketplace for relationship movies. If it’s not likely to inspire a theme park ride, Hollywood isn’t interested. All I can do is keep writing, throwing ideas against the wall until something sticks.”
Even “The Blind Side” had to overcome tremendous resistance, Hancock said.
“I thought it would be a no-brainer, a movie that would appeal to men and women alike and cross all the age boundaries. But it’s still a relationship drama, and the money guys looked at it and asked, ‘Will 17-year-old boys go to see it 30 times over opening weekend?’
“They were also worried that because it’s about football, it wouldn’t play well internationally.
“And, of course, nobody expected any Leigh Anne Tuohy action figures to come out of this.”
Ultimately, Hancock said, it takes a director or a star of note to seal the deal.
“I was lucky because Sandra Bullock wanted to be in my movie,” he said. “Hollywood isn’t so much about getting them to say ‘yes’ as it is making it impossible for them to say ‘no.’ ”
