Why Zachary Levi Personally Relates to New Role in 'The Unbreakable Boy'

"The Unbreakable Boy" is a powerful new film inspired by one father's true story. Scott Lerette struggles to find strength when his long-awaited son is born with a debilitating diagnosis. He has autism and a rare bone disease, but you could say he helps to heal those struggling around him. Zachary Levi plays the role of Scott in the film and told CBN News how his personal battle helped bring the character to life.

"I can relate to so much of it. I've gotten lost in darkness plenty of times in my life. I've gotten lost in not loving myself. I only learned 7 and a half years ago that I didn't love myself. For 37 years of my life, I was unaware of what that concept even meant. And fortunately, I had a breakdown that led me to lifesaving therapy. And then that really opened my eyes to a lot of things that I needed to work on in my life, specifically starting with loving myself. And so, I was able to apply so much of that to what Scott's journey was in this film," he continued.

Actor Jacob Laval plays the role of Austin, the young boy with autism and brittle bone disease. He shared the challenges in executing this role in the film. 

"The biggest challenge playing Austin was probably, he has a wide emotional range that we see from him in the film, Austin. We see him at the highest of highs when he drinks that milkshake and he thinks it's the greatest milkshake ever," he told CBN News."But then we also see him at the lowest of lows when he gets into a fight with his brother and then he gets taken to the mental institution. And I've never really had any acting roles that challenged me that much where I had to portray both those," he continued.

Laval overcame those challenges when he connected with his fellow cast members and the crew behind the scenes.

"I'd say the most I remember is probably the fun memories I had filming the movie, being on set and off set with other people. I had so much fun hanging out with Gavin Boring, who plays my brother. I remember that a lot. I played with him a lot. I'd say, yeah, just the experiences and the scenes I got to film where I got to bond with other people. That's probably what I remember most."

As for Zachary Levi, he believes this film sends an inspiring message.

"I think that I see all of us and everyone, not that we don't all have our individual journeys and paths, and obviously we all have our differences clearly. And I think that's part of the beauty of life, that God creates us all to be unique and individual," Levi told CBN News.

"The Unbreakable Boy" is in theaters nationwide.

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