‘STRONGER’ FILMED FOR MORE THAN A WEEK AT SPAULDING,
The cast and crew of “Stronger,” the Jake Gyllenhaal movie about Boston Marathon bombing hero Jeff Bauman, were allowed to film for more than a week at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown in an effort to show the public “about the obstacles and challenges that people with disabilities face each day.”
“We treated Jeff and 31 other survivors here,” said hospital spokesguy Timothy Sullivan. “Everyone felt it was important to try to represent it correctly, and it took a while to figure it out. But we take a lot of pride in the work that was done and it will be great to see that work on-screen.”
The flick, adapted from Bauman’s book “Stronger,” wrapped recently and will be released sometime next year.
The scenes in the hospital include depictions of Bauman’s therapy, his wife, Erin, played by Tatiana Maslany of “Orphan Black,” and his mother, Patty, played by Miranda Richardson, supporting him and showing his progression after the attacks.
“They show what transpired over the month-plus he was here,” Sullivan said. “What he was like when he first got here, what it’s like for a newly amputated person to try on prosthetics, to learn to walk, to learn all kinds of things.”
Sullivan said the filmmakers and cast were “very respectful” and included staff, patients and former patients in many of the scenes. Gyllenhaal, he said, was “wonderful.”
“He was really committed to doing right by Jeff and not making it sensational,” he said. “He’s a curious actor and obviously very talented. He came by before filming started to see the facility and to talk to people who knew Jeff and to research his role. He was determined to do it right.”
As for the hospital staff, Sullivan said they wanted the film “to show our hospital and the work we do here, not have it just be some nondescript rehab facility.
“It was a chance to show what Spaulding is all about.”
File Under: Strong Statement.