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Arts & Entertainment

Alex from Target to act in movie featuring Plano teens with cystic fibrosis

Frisco teen Alex Lee, a.k.a. #alexfromtarget, is showing his softer side.

The overnight Internet sensation (whose boyish charm bagging groceries at Target captured teen hearts the world over) told his YouTube followers that he'll be in a movie starring a 14-year-old Plano boy with cystic fibrosis.

What he doesn't tell you is that the movie also stars the 14-year-old's little brother, who also has cystic fibrosis. The family wrote the script together.

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The star of the independent film, called Shadows Will Fall, is Plano's Harrison Janik. Harrison says the movie is fictional but will be based on real-life events that tell his story about living with a so-far incurable disease. "The events that take place in the film, including some really heart-wrenching ones, really happened," says Harrison's stepdad Allan Weiss. "But it takes you through the whole range of emotions. And it's extremely triumphant in the end."

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An online fundraising campaign will launch soon to support the movie. Weiss' intention is to create a fanbase around Harrison and his younger brother Jackson. Any profits after the movie is made will go to research to find a cure for cystic fibrosis, says Weiss, who is working on the film with Harrison's mom, Sheli Weiss.

Alex auditioned for the movie and won the part of "Jason," an older friend who serves as a brotherly figure to Harrison's character.

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The script takes some cues from Breaking Bad because Harrison found inspiration from how Walter White dealt with his illness. The film will be suitable for kids, however.

In Alex's latest YouTube video, posted below, he meets Harrison in the hospital to play video games and let him explain his battle with a disease that will likely shorten his life.

"I don't look at it like, 'Why me?'" Harrison told The Dallas Morning News. "I want to raise awareness for CF."

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Shadows Will Fall will star Harrison (14) and Jackson (8), both from Plano; Maci Drewery (12), from Tyler; Blake Parrish (17), from Tyler; Joe Griffenberg (56), from Albuquerque; Cait Pool (16), from Athens;  Alex Lee (17) from Frisco; and Dylan Sawler (16) from Dallas.