Wonder movie: Julia Roberts reveals she saw Jacob Tremblay 'only once with his natural face'

Director Stephen Chbosky's upcoming movie Wonder is a tearjerker. It is its a story about a young boy with a rare medical facial deformity that forces him to struggle getting adjusted in the society.

Based on R.J. Palacio's bestseller of the same name, the film sends the message of "beauty lies within" and narrates the story of a fifth-grade boy August "Auggie" Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) who has a deformed face due to Treacher Collins syndrome.

The film focusses on the emotional journey of the young boy and how his parents, Isabel (Julia Roberts) and Nate (Owen Wilson) constantly tried to uplift his morale in order to enable him to fit in the society as an ordinary boy.

The trailer has mostly received positive feedback from viewers for its sensitive subject and the natural chemistry between by Roberts and young actor Tremblay. However, the actress reveals that the director and the actors tried their best to not make it "overly sentimental," for viewers. And to do that the cast met off-set over food to form the bond with each other.

"I think our biggest responsibility as the Pullman family — Owen [Wilson, who plays Auggie's father], myself, Jacob, and Isabella [Vidovic, who plays Via] — was to seem like we really know each other and love each other and get along and have our challenges, to have some authentic energy among the four of us," she told Entertainment Weekly.

Interestingly, she revealed that she met Tremblay only once with his natural face. But throughout filming, she was always with his character Auggie. "With Jacob, I only met him one time, which was the first day we were all together as a cast. Then after that, I was only ever with Auggie, who felt like my son. I loved him and treasured him, and I worried about him and tried to protect him. It all just seemed very true," she added.

The Academy Award Winning actress, however, credits Wilson for bringing the fun factor to the film and on the sets with his constant sense of humour which allowed everyone to enjoy lighter moment amid high-octane emotional scenes.

Wonder releases in theatres Friday, 17 November.