Talking with Quinton Aaron, you can almost be fooled into thinking that you're talking with the character he plays in the Oscar-winning film, The Blind Side. In his quiet, unassuming way, he's nonchalant about his newfound star status, after smaller parts in Be Kind Rewind and Fighting, neither of which garnered a tenth of the attention.

When asked which scenes were his favorite, Aaron responds with a chuckle that the "fight scene was real cool 'cause I got to do some action on camera." But he quickly adds, "I like the hug scene with Sandra."

And who wouldn't? Growing up with a good family consisting of his mother and brother, and plenty of other family members around, but without a father in the picture, Aaron has lived some of the same tough situations that Michael Oher, the Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle that Aaron plays on the screen but whom he has never met, grew up with south of the Mason-Dixon line.

But hugging Sandra Bullock? That's more than just a hard-up dream. It's a fantasy come true for most.

The football preparation on the other hand must have been a nightmare.

"[The director] put me through some brutal training," Aaron says. "I did a lot of physical work, two-a-days seven days a week, and a strict diet. If I had an early call, I'd go to the gym after I wrapped. I was in real good shape thanks to the football stuff."

The emotional preparation wasn't quite the same because Aaron says he didn't need much help getting ready for those. "I thought about a lot of scenes; I triggered how would I feel in that predicament because our personalities were at the time a lot alike."

When it comes to exploring the moral role that the Tuohy family played in Oher's life and in the life of their southern community, Aaron warms to the subject. "You know, I'm a Christian; I do believe in helping other people," he says. "I don't realize that it was that much of a difference [in the South] and they wanted to help; when Leigh Anne [Tuohy] decided to do what she did, she did it was because she was a good person. A lot of times when I help people I don't do it because of how it would look but because it's the right thing to do."

Aaron remains hopeful that the latest hit won't be his last, and his place in an Oscar-worthy movie will certainly garner more attention. The next time out, he might have to do some more talking but at least he won't be running suicides.