Over the course of his career, Steve Carell has taken on a gamut of different roles, from Dunder Mifflin's offbeat salesman Michael Scott to a cartoon supervillain turned curmudgeonly dad. In his upcoming biopic, Welcome to Marwen, the actor inhabits the role of Mark Hogancamp, a man who builds a miniature town of dolls after nearly dying from a violent attack. And yes, Hogancamp's real story is just as heartbreaking and full of resilience as one would imagine.

On April 8, 2000, five men beat Hogancamp outside of a bar in Kingston, NY, after he told them that he was a cross-dresser. The attack resulted in Hogancamp spending nine days in a coma and 40 days in the hospital. Along with post-traumatic stress disorder, he suffered brain damage that left him with little recall of his past life, which includes his experiences with homelessness, struggles with alcoholism, and past relationships. His last memory...