Sandra Bullock's The Blind Side co-star admits film took 'certain liberties'

The star of The Blind Side says has talked about the film taking ‘certain liberties’ amid recent controversy around the family it was based on.

However, Quinton Aaron, who portrayed former NFL player Michael Oher in the Oscar-winning film, also said he felt as though the film has served ‘a greater purpose than anyone could have hoped for’.

Earlier this week Oher filed a petition at a court in Tennessee, claiming that Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy placed him under a conservatorship, rather than adopting him, and have enriched themselves at his expense.

The 37-year-old former tackle has asked for the conservatorship to be terminated, along with requesting a full accounting of the money earned from the use of his name and story.

His story was made into the 2009 film The Blind Side, which starred Aaron, as well as Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy – a performance for which she won an Oscar – and Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy.

In the paperwork, the Super Bowl winner claimed that all four members of the Tuohy family were paid $225,000 plus 2.5% of the film’s ‘defined net proceeds’, while he received nothing.

In an interview with US outlet People, Aaron said that it was likely that not all of the story was ‘gonna be a hundred percent [true].’

‘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,’ he explained.

‘And I think in doing so, they successfully put out something that has motivated an entire generation of people to do good.

‘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.’

Elsewhere, Aaron also defended his co-star Bullock after several fans claimed she should give her Oscar back following the Michael Oher lawsuit.

Following the bombshell lawsuit, some had declared that Bullock – who recently lost her partner Bryan Randall after a private three-year battle with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) – should return her Academy Award, however, many came to the 59-year-old star’s defence, acknowledging that she is not to blame for the situation.

‘She gave a brilliant performance, and that shouldn’t be tarnished for something that had nothing to do with her,’ Aaron told TMZ.

‘To make a statement like that doesn’t make any sense. Sandra Bullock didn’t have anything to do with the real story that we’re reading as of right now.’

The actress has reportedly been upset by the backlash to the film too, with an insider revealing that she ‘hates that such a wonderful story, a spectacular movie, and a spectacular time in her life now has been tainted’.

‘Now people won’t watch it and if they do, they will have a completely different reaction to its original intention,’ they added to DailyMail.com.

‘There was so much hard work put into the film that they all thought was the truth and now that has been questioned, it just upsets Sandra to no end that a time in her life that was so special, is now shadowed with a completely different perspective.’

On Wednesday lawyers for the Tuohys said that the couple intended to end the conservatorship, having previously shared that they were ‘devastated’ by Oher’s claims.

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy intend to enter into a consent order to end the conservatorship, lawyer Randall Fishman told reporters.

Oher’s claims were previously described as ‘outlandish, hurtful and absurd’ by representatives for the couple, who claimed that the NFL star had attempted to ‘run this play before’.

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