In an interview with writer/director team Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Fleck says that they interviewed about 500 Domenicans for the part of Miguel “Sugar” Santos. Alegnis Soto, who they eventually chose for the part, was number 452, and was also a baseball player without any acting experience. Watching this film, it is apparent that this level of meticulousness and authenticity went into every last detail, especially in their treatment of the film’s characters. People like Santos or the Churchgoers featured in SUGAR could have easily been typecast as flat, poorly-written stereotypes, as you often encounter films like THE BLIND SIDE. Fleck and Boden, however, clearly took the time to know their characters, and to care about them, as well.