Gyllenhaal plays the real-life hero Jeff Bauman in this personal, powerful story about a man learning to recover, and becoming a national symbol of courage.
Jake Gyllenhaal is bringing the inspirational real-life story of Boston Marathon bombing survivor Jeff Bauman to life in the first trailer for the upcoming drama, Stronger.
When two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013, the explosions killed three people and injured 264 others -- among them was Bauman, who had come out to support his girlfriend, Erin Hurley, played in the film by Tatiana Maslany.
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Bauman lost both legs at the knees and went on to undergo extensive physical therapy and learned to walk with the use of prosthetics. Bauman was thrust into the spotlight as a symbol of national courage and Bostonian strength, and we went on to write a memoir in 2015, detailing his experiences adjusting to the life-changing trauma and overcoming unimaginable hardship.
The first powerful trailer gives viewers a glimpse of the man Bauman was before the terror attack and the painful rollercoaster of emotions and physical challenges he endures in the aftermath of the devastating incident.
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Bauman was also one of the key witnesses who saw the bombers and was instrumental in helping police identify the attackers -- Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with police, and brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was arrested, convicted of murder and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and sentenced to death. He is currently on death row.
While 2016 gave us Mark Wahlberg's tense thriller, Patriot's Day -- which details the post-bombing manhunt for the men responsible -- Stronger looks like it will give audiences a glimpse at the human cost and personal, profound impact the incident had on those involved and America as a whole.
Stronger -- which also stars Miranda Richardson and Clancy Brown and was directed by David Gordon Green -- hits theaters Sept. 22.
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