Actor Jacob Tremblay consulted with children living with disabilities in real life to prepare for his role in the film Wonder. Against the backdrop of awards season, here’s a look at how he prepared.

When Jacob Tremblay, 11, took on the role of Auggie Pullman, the unlikely hero of the best-selling book of the same name, he asked patients at a Toronto children’s hospital to write him letters describing their experiences living with facial differences like those of his character. ‘I had a binder with those letters in it, and I took it to the set with me every day,’ said Tremblay.