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Gottsagen plays the leading role of a young man
who escapes from the nursing home where he is living to pursue
his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. On his travels,
he becomes friends with a small-time crook portrayed by
"Transformers" star Shia LaBeouf. Dakota Johnson co-stars as a
nurse sent to find Gottsagen's character.
It is one of the few Hollywood films to feature an actor with
Down syndrome in a lead role.
At the movie's red-carpet premiere, co-directors and writers
Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz said they met Gottsagen when
they were volunteering at a camp for people with disabilities
and Gottsagen said he wanted to become a movie star.
The pair, who had made a short film and worked on commercials
but had never produced a feature film, decided to write a movie
that Gottsagen could star in.
"We sat down for a year and worked on the script and tried to
build something that would show him in the best light possible
for who he is, a human being with hopes and dreams and goals who
has the capacity to love even deeper than I do," Nilson said.
The movie has charmed critics, earning a 100 percent positive
rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. It will be
released in the United States on Aug. 9.
Both LaBeouf and Johnson said they developed a kinship with
Gottsagen.
"He's like some sort of guardian to me," LaBeouf said. "He's
been a pillar in my life. He keeps me afloat and gives me a
bunch of advice."
At the premiere, Gottsagen had advice for others who want to
follow his lead. "Follow your heart and follow your dreams," he
said. "But first, you should stay at school, study, study a
lot."
After that, "Reach for the top and you can go big," he added.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross; Writing by Lisa Richwine; Editing by
Leslie Adler)
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