Mumbai, Oct 28 (PTI) Actor Jack Dylan Grazer, who voice stars as a socially awkward seventh grader in animated science-fiction comedy "Ron's Gone Wrong", says he related a lot with his character of Barney as he had just finished middle school when he got the role.

Slated to release in India on Thursday, the film is a touching look at the budding friendship between a boy and his faulty robot. The film also features the voices of famed comic actor Zach Galifianakis, Oscar winner Olivia Colman, Ed Helms, Justice Smith, Rob Delaney, Kylie Cantrall, Ricardo Hurtado, Marcus Scribner and Thomas Barbusca.

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Grazer, best known for his role in superhero movie “Shazam!”, said he has been attached with the project since 2017 and stayed with it as the film explores important themes about friendship and self-love, which is what he wants people to take away from the movie.

“At every age, the biggest thing is just to incorporate self-love and know your self-worth, know your value, know how valuable you are, know how valid and valued you are. I think that's super crucial," he said while talking about the pressures of social media on teenagers during a virtual press conference for the film from Los Angeles.

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"The funny thing about it is that I know that I grew up with it. So, it's a big part of my life for business and for everything. The freaky thing about it is that it is advertised as the greatest way of making friends ever. But it's the most toxic playground where you'll get fed the most judgement you'll ever see in your life. And it's a toxic place to grow up. So, the greatest thing is you should know who you are and stay grounded,” he added.

The actor, 18, said he has kind of grown with the film.

“...It's been a whirlwind of a process and so much evolution has happened, especially with Barney and the story as a whole. I remember the script, and there were so many different people, it was a whole other ballgame when I started. But I'm so glad that I stuck around. I'm so thrilled,” he said.

The young actor said Barney's character came to him when he himself was going through a challenging time.

“I had just finished middle school, which was like the worst time of my entire life. Most awkward stage of my entire life. And when I found Barney, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I could pull that off'."

"Hangover" star Galifianakis, who voice stars as the titular robot in the movie, said it was a tricky balance to get the voice and tone right for his character.

"It was a joint effort to find that voice. Sometimes I would be too emotional, and then when I would get feedback from the team like, "That's too... we're hearing a little crack of emotion there". And I thought, 'God, I think I'm doing this wrong'. Honestly, it was a little tricky just to find it (voice) because you don't want to do a robot. Obviously, they didn't want that.

"They wanted more of my voice. But then how do you walk that line of not too much emotion, but likeable or lovable? So, I had a lot of help, because I needed it. Also, it's a tone thing too, in an animated thing there's a lot of it,” Galifianakis said.

The 20th Century Studio film is directed by Jean-Philippe Vine and Sarah Smith with Octavio Rodriguez serving as a co-director from a script written by Peter Baynham.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)