Everyone knows films “inspired by a true story” tend to include a number of details that either stretch the truth, or didn’t actually occur. Telling a story that captivates an audience often calls for the film’s creators to use their dramatic licenses to create story elements that make the film more intriguing. Following suit, McFarland USA (2015) contains a number of story elements that were fabricated or stretched for dramatic flair - but the bridge scene isn’t one of them.

In the film, after forgetting to pick up his daughter’s birthday cake and missing her celebration, coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) drives around town and finds his star runner, Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts), perched on the side of a bridge. Whether or not he was debating jumping is unclear, but White knows Valles comes from a rough family situation and has issues with anger and depression, so he decides to try and talk him down. It’s one of the heavier moments of the film, and is an encounter that White and Valles actually had - though it wasn’t actually preceded by White missing his daughter’s birthday party (the real White’s daughters were in college during the time the movie is set).

In an interview with Crave Online, the real Jim White said “Thomas had problems at home. That was a real thing in there. That wasn’t quite the way I found him… but I did find him on a bridge and he was having problems at home.”

Thomas Valles told LA Times the same, recounting “I was standing there. I didn’t want to go home. I can’t say I was going to jump, but I was thinking about my life and why some people would jump. All of a sudden I saw these headlights and it was Mr. White in his ‘59 Chevy.”

While the filmmakers obviously manipulated the setting, dialogue, and sequence of events for the film, the root of the encounter and its emotional significance are authentic.