How Did They Do The Makeup For The Actor Who Played Auggie In Movie Wonder

Real-life 'Wonder' family unit: Nathaniel, Magda Newman on how they're doing

Nathaniel Newman and the character in "Wonder" have similar syndromes.

R.J. Palacio's 2012 book, "Wonder," tells the story of x-twelvemonth-old Auggie Pullman, a fictional boy with facial differences, and his experiences in everyday life dealing with the condition.

The volume was inspired by a real-life encounter Palacio had with a kid who had a craniofacial disorder. After her son saw the child and began crying, she quickly turned his stroller around and pushed him away to protect the girl from his reaction.

"It was terrible, and I was and so mad at myself for the way that I handled it," Palacio told "20/xx" in a 2017 interview. "For the rest of the twenty-four hour period, I merely kept thinking about all the things I wished I'd said and done."

Palacio decided to write "Wonder" in hopes that information technology would inspire children and parents.

After the volume came out, she met Magda and Russel Newman, whose son Nathaniel was built-in with Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare craniofacial disorder that's caused by mutations in a specific cistron.

Nathaniel's family and Palacio spoke to "20/20" in 2017 nigh the similarities betwixt Nathaniel's life and Palacio'south book. Russel Newman said, "When she saw Nathaniel, you could just come across this look in her confront."

"I remember thinking, 'Oh my goodness, this is Auggie Pullman come to life,'" Palacio said.

Now, merely over 2 years later, Magda and Nathaniel Newman have their own companion books, "NORMAL: One Child'due south Extraordinary Journey" and "NORMAL: A Mother and Her Beautiful Son," coming out in Jan.

Hither'due south what they had to say most life equally information technology is at present, written in their ain words. Watch the total story on special Sabbatum ambulation of "20/20," Dec. 28 at 10 p.g. ET.

From Nathaniel Newman:

Information technology's hard to believe that more than two years have passed since our episode of "twenty/twenty" aired on ABC. Quite a bit has happened since then.

I am at present a sophomore at Skyline Loftier School in Sammamish, Washington. I am heavily back into Star Wars these days; I honey the new game on my Playstation and I'1000 hoping the moving picture lives upwards to the hype.

I have picked upwardly some new interests along the way. In particular, I dear to play Dungeons and Dragons. I have a cracking group of friends and nosotros often play [Dungeons and Dragons], Minecraft, some Fortnight and fifty-fifty some [Grand Theft Auto] from fourth dimension to time. Merely the biggest news over the past two years was working with my mother on a book almost my life, called "Normal."

Nosotros'd gotten to know R.J. Palacio, the writer of "Wonder," and she encouraged us to write a book. One time our life settled downward a chip nosotros were able to make information technology happen. "Normal" details the events of my life starting from my birth (definitely needed help from my parents on that part) up until my early on teen years, covering all the critical events that shaped my life. It was fun writing the book. We worked with a writer, Hilary Liftin, and I would talk to her while playing with her dog, Zeus. While my mom worked on her portion of her volume, I would chill in the pool and hang out with Hilary's kids.

One great thing that has happened since the prove aired is that I rarely have to go to the infirmary now. The doctors at Seattle Children's did a great chore and I really enjoy not having a tracheostomy [tube] anymore. I can swim whenever I want, I am taking taekwondo and, basically, I become to but be like my friends and classmates.

Schoolhouse is good, some classes are piece of cake (linguistic communication arts) some are quite difficult (geometry). I just got my learner's allow, and to be honest I'm not the worst driver in the world. For the most part, I'g just your average, everyday teen. After 70-plus surgeries it'due south pretty nice to be able to say that.

From Magda Newman:

It'south hard to believe that more 2 years have passed since our episode of "xx/20" aired on ABC.

Our life has been pretty ordinary since Nathaniel's tracheostomy came out. I am happy to report that he doesn't have to get to the doctors nearly as frequently equally he used to -- maybe once a year. I take been cancer-free and healthy, and simply similar Nathaniel, I visit my doctors in one case a twelvemonth for routine check-ups.

Jacob is our younger son, now historic period 13, and he is loving school and enjoying playing lacrosse. While he hasn't had the significant health issues that either Nathaniel or I have had, the past few years haven't been like shooting fish in a barrel on him. As the "unaffected child," he has had to learn how to deal with teen anxiety and depression. Much of the by 2 years has been spent giving Jacob the fourth dimension and attention he so richly deserves.

Similar whatever mom, I am busy chaperoning Jacob and Nathaniel to their myriad of activities, like Lacrosse, Taekwondo, tutoring, etc. Nathaniel'due south life has changed the almost since we wrapped up filming for our initial "20/20" evidence. He got his learner'due south permit and started driving. Similar any "normal" parent, this was a nerve wracking feel. I oft find myself hyperventilating when I sit in the rider seat and sentinel my son exercise driving. Just let me clinch y'all that it gets better with every drive.

Now that he is tracheostomy-gratuitous, Nathaniel gets to enjoy physical activities only like every other kid. He loves Tae Kwon Practice, which he started practicing about 2 years ago and is well-nigh to start his training for a black belt. He is very proud of himself and what he has achieved so far. He tin at present swim independently and even got to swim with dolphins and go snorkeling in Hawaii! Earlier his tracheostomy came out, he wouldn't exist able to participate in these activities. Over the past two years, information technology has brought my husband and I great joy watching Nathaniel grow and thrive as a "normal" teenager.

The well-nigh heady thing that has happened for our family in the past two years has been the writing of our memoirs. Nathaniel and I have penned ii books, both titled "Normal." One is targeted at young readers (teens) and the other, in my vocalisation, is targeted at the adult reader. I had been thinking virtually writing our story for quite some time and became fifty-fifty more encouraged after the popularity and success of "Wonder."

In fact, following the release of the picture show and our "twenty/twenty" special, R.J. Palacio farther encouraged me to write these memoirs and helped point us in the right direction. We spent much of the past ii years working with our amazing collaborators and publishers to make this dream a reality.

Our goal in writing these memoirs was to go across what was told in "Wonder." We wanted to dive deeper into explaining the concrete challenges of being born with facial differences and how they impact more than your social interactions. I wanted to share how, every bit a mom, I overcame my ain immense challenges to raise my children every bit "normal" as possible.

Our Message: Live your normal! Don't let your life circumstances or how others perceive you decide how you choose to live your life. "Normal" is how you choose to define it!!!