▁me ▁in ▁real ▁life ." ▁▁ ▁Ch osen ▁Jacob s ▁as ▁Mike ▁Han lon ▁A ▁sweet , ▁soft ly - sp oken ▁black ▁boy ▁living ▁on ▁the ▁out sk ir ts ▁of ▁Der ry ▁on ▁his ▁Grand father ' s ▁farm . ▁On ▁the ▁character ▁of ▁Han lon , ▁Mus chi etti ▁spoke ▁of ▁him ▁knowing ▁a ▁situation ▁of ▁desp air , ▁on ▁top ▁of ▁the ▁terror ▁of ▁It ▁and ▁the ▁fear ▁of ▁height s , ▁to ▁which ▁he ▁also ▁stated , ▁" Long ▁story ▁short , ▁there ’ s ▁all ▁sorts ▁of ▁difficult ▁situations , ▁and ▁we ▁had ▁the ▁chance ▁to ▁tell ▁them ▁in ▁a ▁movie ▁that ▁faces ▁directly ▁those ▁conflicts ▁the ▁families ▁of ▁the ▁young ▁actors ▁were ▁very ▁open - mind ed , ▁so ▁we ▁could ▁tell ▁the ▁about ▁subjects ▁that ▁are ▁normally ▁very ▁touch y ." ▁When ▁describing ▁Han lon , ▁Jacob s ▁stated ▁that ▁although ▁Mike ' s ▁more ▁independent ▁in ▁character ization , ▁he ' s ▁still ▁an ▁eight ies ▁character , ▁while ▁elabor ating ▁by ▁stating : ▁" I ▁mean ▁he ▁doesn ' t ▁have ▁any ▁friends ▁growing ▁up , ▁isolated , ▁black , ▁in ▁the ▁eight ies , ▁in ▁a ▁primarily ▁C au cas ian ▁environment , ▁so ▁I ▁think ▁he ' s ▁just ▁got ▁a ▁sweet ness ▁about ▁him ." ▁On ▁the ▁character ization ▁of ▁Han lon , ▁Jacob s ▁said : ▁" find ing ▁friends ▁that ▁accept ▁him ▁for ▁who ▁he ▁is ▁means ▁a ▁lot ▁to ▁him . ▁So ▁he ▁would ▁never ▁bet ray