Quinton Aaron knows the power of a success story featuring a talented young man and a mother figure who helps him beat the odds. Those elements helped make the 2009 film “The Blind Side,” which he starred in alongside Sandra Bullock.
That film was about football star Michael Oher, but Quinton’s life has its own Hollywood-worthy arc: A sudden rise to fame. The loss of the mother who guided him. A descent into despair. A diagnosis of the same heart condition she’d had.
And then – guided by other strong women in his family – a determination to not become a tragic figure.
“‘The Blind Side’ was based on someone else’s story,” his cousin, Monique McGoogan-Sabage says. “But Quinton has an incredible story of his own.”
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Befitting his stature – he’s 6-foot-8 – Quinton says he has always dreamed big.
Quinton’s early days
He was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1984 and began performing at an early age, imitating Batman and Michelangelo (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) and singing Michael Jackson songs around the house. “There were so many things I wanted to do,” he shares. “And my mom just taught me to believe in myself, and never let anyone tell me that I can’t do those things.”
Quinton moved regularly but stayed surrounded by extended family. He also was shy, and targeted by bullies. But around age 9, his mother, Laura, suggested he get involved in drama classes at school. When he took to the stage, instead of taunting him, his classmates were enthusiastic.
“I can’t even describe the feeling I felt from that moment,” he adds. “It was like, ‘I want more of it.'”
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By 12, he was 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds. His aspirations were just as big. “I told my mom, ‘I want to be an action star. I want to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger.'” He intended to become the first Black James Bond.
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Masking his pain in his work
A decade later, in 2007, his mom spotted the part that would change his life. While he’d been doing work in student films, she’d been scouting audition opportunities online. The description of the role for “The Blind Side” sounded so much like her son, she woke him up at 3 a.m. to talk about it.
He landed an audition and thought it went well. Then he spotted an
