SMALL WONDER
Local girl reveals what it’s really like to grow up with the rare disease portrayed in the heartwarming new Julia Roberts flick
IF there’s anyone who can weigh in on “Wonder,” the Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson film out Friday, it’s 12-year-old Hannah.
The spunky Long Islander was born with the same facial disfigurement as 10-year-old Auggie of the film, adapted from R.J. Palacio’s best-selling children’s novel. Wearing prosthetics, “Room” star Jacob Tremblay plays Auggie, who, after years of homeschooling, enters fifth grade wearing an astronaut’s helmet. When he finally does show his face, he relies on family, friends and his sense of humor to ward off bullying and rejection.
Hannah, who’s attended school since kindergarten, gives the film mixed reviews. Excited as she was to see a movie about Treacher Collins syndrome, something she’s spent her whole life explaining, she wishes it were more realistic.
As she tells The Post, the real bullying these days takes place on social media, and the hurtful comments she’s encountered usually come after she’s posted videos made with her friends.
“I was never self-conscious about my face and never worried about people bullying me,” Hannah says. “When they do, I’m like, ‘whatever.’ I always make those situations funny.”
Mostly, says Hannah, who watched the film earlier this week with her mother and father, she wishes the filmmakers had cast someone who has the syndrome.
“They put a lot of effort into it to make him look like a kid with facial differences,” she says of the mask worn by Tremblay, which was crafted using the face of a patient receiving treatment at NYU Langone Health. “But I was also upset that they didn’t pick someone with Treacher Collins because . . . they’re just acting and getting paid.” Some reviewers called “Wonder” a tear-jerker, but Hannah’s a tough audience.
“I’m not the kind of person that cries,” she says, though she admits she came close to tears during a scene involving the family dog.
Hannah’s mom, Stacy, felt otherwise. She says she wept steadily throughout the scene in which Auggie was born. It took her back to Hannah’s birth, and how she learned that her daughter had this syndrome, which affects roughly one in every 50,000 people around the
world. The condition is genetic — Hannah’s father, Bruce, and sister, Bari, both have it, though in much milder forms.
“I remember I just felt so bad,” Stacy says. “You don’t want your kid to be bullied, and have all these surgeries.”
There were parts of “Wonder” that rang true for Hannah. Like Auggie, she’s relied on friends and family to get her through painful situations.
She’s also had a lifetime of facial reconstructive surgery — more than 20 procedures in all at NYU Langone Health. Common deformities include shortened jaws, which can make it hard for Treacher Collins patients to eat and breathe normally, so many undergo procedures that elongate their jaws. They may also need specialized hearing aids to counteract irregularities in their ears.
Auggie collects all his hospital bracelets, a detail that resonated with Hannah. She says she’d recommend “Wonder” if only so others might understand what it’s like growing up looking different.
“I hope people learn how to be kind,” she says, “and not judge people by their face, and learn how to like people for their personalities.”
“I was never self-conscious about my face and never worried about people bullying me. When they do, I’m like, ‘whatever.’ I always make those situations funny.” — Hannah