50 Fun Facts About The Blind Side

Which actress won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side?

Sandra Bullock took a pay cut in exchange for a share of the profits, then watched the film gross $309 million.

Which holiday is days away when Leigh Anne first brings Michael home in The Blind Side?

Thanksgiving break is also when the real roadside meeting took place, though on a cold morning rather than the film's rainy night.

Which worst-actress prize did the star of The Blind Side collect the night before her Oscar win?

A Razzie for the comedy All About Steve was hers to collect in person, and she gave every member of the audience a copy of the film.

In The Blind Side, what does Michael tell Leigh Anne he has never had before moving in?

A bed of his own was new to the real Oher too; Leigh Anne bought him a futon, having heard that large athletes use them.

On a career aptitude test in The Blind Side, Michael ranks in the 98th percentile for which quality?

Protective instincts are what the film's Leigh Anne taps at practice, telling Michael to guard his quarterback as he would the family.

Which bestselling nonfiction author wrote the 2006 book behind the film The Blind Side?

Michael Lewis came to the story through Sean Tuohy, a former schoolmate. It became the first of his books to be filmed.

Which university does Michael pick in The Blind Side, the alma mater of both Tuohy parents?

Ole Miss was simply close to home, the real Oher said: family and friends could easily drive down to Oxford to watch him play.

In 2023 Michael Oher alleged the Tuohys never adopted him, using which legal arrangement instead?

A conservatorship gave the couple authority to make business deals in his name, his lawsuit said. A judge ended it in September 2023.

Which nickname does Michael tell Leigh Anne he hates being called in The Blind Side?

Big Mike is what nearly everyone called the real Oher too, in his old neighborhood and at his new school, and he disliked it just as much.

Which fast-food chain's franchises made Sean Tuohy wealthy, a business mentioned in The Blind Side?

Taco Bell was the core of a group that once ran 115 fast-food outlets, most of which the Tuohys later sold.

In which Tennessee city is The Blind Side set, the real hometown of Michael Oher?

Memphis is where Oher was born, one of twelve children, and where he passed through eleven schools in his first nine years as a student.

Which country music star plays Leigh Anne's husband Sean Tuohy in The Blind Side?

Tim McGraw is heard as well as seen: his song Southern Voice is among the tracks featured in the film.

Which newcomer, a security guard when he auditioned, plays Michael Oher in The Blind Side?

Quinton Aaron offered to guard the set if he lost the part. The call telling him he had won it came as he faced eviction.

Which Oscar-winning actress plays Michael's tutor Miss Sue in The Blind Side?

Kathy Bates plays a character based on Sue Mitchell, a retired teacher who went on tutoring the real Oher through college.

Which actress plays the Tuohys' teenage daughter in The Blind Side, her first major film role?

Lily Collins had her breakthrough here, months after appearing in two episodes of the teen drama 90210.

Which NFL team drafts Michael Oher in the first round, as shown at the end of The Blind Side?

The Baltimore Ravens acquired the 23rd pick from New England to take him, and the Tuohy family was there to see it.

In The Blind Side, which lineman shields a right-handed quarterback from rushers he cannot see?

Left tackle pay saw the biggest rise of any position once free agency arrived, the book argues, as teams bought insurance for their passer.

Which Giants linebacker's 1981 arrival changed the sport, according to the book The Blind Side?

Lawrence Taylor rushed passers with such speed and power that teams began to prize bigger, more agile linemen to stop him.

Which Washington quarterback's career-ending injury is replayed at the opening of The Blind Side?

Joe Theismann never played again after that 1985 Monday night sack, and has said he never blamed the man who hit him.

Which coach's West Coast offense is one of two changes traced in the book The Blind Side?

Bill Walsh devised the scheme in Cincinnati and refined it in San Francisco; more passing meant a greater need to guard the passer.

For which Oscar winner was the lead role in The Blind Side first written, before she declined?

Julia Roberts passed, and the eventual star said no three times herself before a visit with the real Leigh Anne won her over.

Which film won Best Picture over both The Blind Side and Avatar at the 2010 Academy Awards?

The Hurt Locker won six Oscars that night, at the first ceremony after the Academy doubled the Best Picture field to ten films.

With whom did the star of The Blind Side tie for Best Actress at the 2010 Critics' Choice Awards?

Meryl Streep shared the prize for her turn as a famous television chef, and the two met again weeks later as rival Oscar nominees.

Which film kept The Blind Side in second place on its opening weekend in November 2009?

New Moon held it off twice, but in its third weekend the drama climbed to number one on strong word of mouth.

Which director of the baseball drama The Rookie wrote and directed The Blind Side?

John Lee Hancock came back to directing after half a decade away, and later made The Founder and The Highwaymen.

Which national championship-winning coach plays himself recruiting Michael in The Blind Side?

Nick Saban asked to repeat the conversation he really had with Oher rather than follow the script, and the director let him.

What fictional name does The Blind Side give the private school that the real Michael Oher attended?

Wingate stands in for Briarcrest, whose officials withheld the real name because they felt the script took too much artistic license.

Which sport is the Tuohys' daughter playing when Sean first notices Michael in The Blind Side?

Volleyball was an invention: the real daughter was a state champion pole vaulter, and Sean first saw Oher at a school gym practice.

Which college sport made the real Sean Tuohy an all-conference pick in each of his four seasons?

Basketball won out even though baseball's Cincinnati Reds drafted him out of high school; he chose a college scholarship instead.

What is Leigh Anne Tuohy's profession in The Blind Side, one that later put her on Extreme Makeover?

Interior designer is her real trade too, and she put it to work on the house Oher bought after turning professional.

What was the real Leigh Anne Tuohy at university, where she met her future husband Sean?

A cheerleader and Kappa Delta sorority member, she married Sean in 1982, and their daughter later cheered at the same university.

Which body asks whether the Tuohys steered Michael to their old university in The Blind Side?

The NCAA really did look into the case, and ruled that the university had broken no rules in recruiting Oher.

Which penalty do referees call when Michael carries a taunting opponent off the field in The Blind Side?

Excessive blocking was the real referees' improvised call too, after Oher hauled a trash-talking defender toward the team bus.

How does Michael shield SJ from serious injury during the car crash in The Blind Side?

He stops the airbag with his arm, and it really happened: the real Oher showed Leigh Anne a burn mark running the length of it.

Which video game are Michael and SJ driving to buy when they crash in The Blind Side?

Madden was the film's errand; the real crash came on an icy road, when Oher's truck skidded head-on into a van.

What does tutor Miss Sue confess to Leigh Anne before taking the job in The Blind Side?

She is a Democrat, Miss Sue admits; the real tutor, Sue Mitchell, was once turned down for a job at Oher's school over her beliefs.

Which classic children's book does Leigh Anne read aloud to Michael and SJ in The Blind Side?

The Story of Ferdinand, about a bull who would rather sit and smell flowers than fight, mirrors the gentle giant the film makes of Michael.

What leftover snack does Michael gather from the gym stands to feed himself in The Blind Side?

Popcorn bags abandoned after school games keep him fed while he sleeps in the gym, carrying his spare clothes in a plastic grocery bag.

What does Leigh Anne fake for Michael, to be shown on stage at his graduation in The Blind Side?

A baby photo of a stranger did the job in real life too: she picked the cutest one she could find online for the senior program.

What title did the real Michael Oher give the essay a teacher reads aloud in The Blind Side?

White Walls described his bewildered first days at the school; the real Oher wrote it later, as a senior looking back.

Which real-life high school coach of Michael Oher has an uncredited cameo in The Blind Side?

Hugh Freeze, the model for Coach Cotton, appears watching game film; Oher's future college hired him twenty days after Oher signed.

Which coach won the real recruiting battle for Michael Oher and plays himself in The Blind Side?

Ed Orgeron agreed to the cameo even though the university had fired him before the cameras rolled.

Which university's ten-day online courses let the real Michael Oher swap failing grades for A's?

Brigham Young courses lifted his grade average from 0.76 to 2.52 by graduation, enough to qualify for a top-division scholarship.

Which memoir did Michael Oher write to tell The Blind Side story in his own words?

I Beat the Odds objects that the film made him look slow, when he was a kid who had simply lacked steady schooling and already knew the game.

Which quarterback's blind side did Michael Oher protect as a starter in Super Bowl 50?

Cam Newton was a reason Oher signed with Carolina, where he allowed a career-low four sacks that season.

Which composer, a regular collaborator of the Coen brothers, wrote the score for The Blind Side?

Carter Burwell scored it in the same year as the Coens' A Serious Man, and won an ASCAP award for top box-office films.

Which act's song Chances plays over the closing credits of The Blind Side?

Five for Fighting released the track on the album Slice; the film features 23 songs in all, by artists from Les Paul to Canned Heat.

In which Southern city, doubling for the real setting, were The Blind Side's school scenes shot?

Atlanta supplied two private school campuses, and their students, parents and teachers filled in as extras.

Why did the eventual star of The Blind Side turn the lead role down three times?

Unease portraying a devout Christian held her back: she felt she could not represent such beliefs fairly until she met the real Leigh Anne.

Per the book The Blind Side, which major program alone offered Michael Oher no full scholarship?

Penn State was the lone holdout among the big football schools; more than a thousand recruiting letters reached him in all.