FROM REHAB TO RED CARPET
Bauman, ‘Stronger’ stars bring it all back to Spaudling
A hallway inside Charlestown’s Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital was transformed into a swanky red carpet for the Boston premiere of “Stronger” last night.
“He’s so lovable and appealing as a human being,” said the film’s star, Jake Gyllenhaal, as he wrapped his arm around Boston Marathon bombing survivor Jeff Bauman.
“The amount of crap he gives me is starting to get annoying, but besides that, his sense of humor is incredible,” Gyllenhaal jokingly continued.
Gyllenhaal plays Bauman in “Stronger,” which follows his emotional and physical recovery after losing both legs in the 2013 terrorist attack near the marathon finish line.
“When we first met, we went out to dinner right here in the North End, 21⁄2 years ago … I just trusted everyone there,” Bauman said.
“I felt like I trusted everyone because they were coming at me with just sincere kind of honesty and they just wanted to get my story right,” he added.
Accompanying the two amigos on the red carpet were Gyllenhaal’s co-star Tatiana Maslany, Bauman’s wife Erin Hurley (the couple has split since the film’s production), director David Gordon Green, writer John Pollono, comedian Lenny Clarke and Boston Celtics Gordon Hayward and Al Horford.
And you could see the emotion on all of their faces as they spoke about how the film touches them. For Bauman, parts of the movie were almost too real — the initial hospital scene for one.
“Seeing that is like putting me back in the bed and all I want to do is just talk to Erin,” Bauman said.
Gyllenhaal thinks “Stronger” will leave viewers in tears — and in stitches.
“I first read the screenplay and I was laughing through a lot of it,” he said. “I think Jeff’s sense of humor was laced throughout the entire story and I was surprised … Little do you know, you’ll be laughing and crying in the same way.”