Playing Terry Fox 'a big weight to carry,' actor Nathan Carroll says of musical

There are a few ways actors prepare for a new role.

Nathan Carroll is running a triathlon.

Carroll, 27, is mentally and physically preparing to play the role of Terry Fox in Marathon of Hope: The Musical, which will have its world premiere at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse this fall.

"It definitely feels like a big responsibility, a big weight to carry. There are very few Canadians iconic as Terry. But it's very exciting to be given a role like this at this age," Carroll told The Morning Edition's Craig Norris Thursday, the day he was officially announced as the lead in the musical.

"Terry is so inspirational and it's more exciting that intimidating," he said.

Carroll has been reading the biography Terry Fox, His Story by Leslie Scrivener and watching archival videos to observe things like exactly how Fox ran, how his feet landed on the ground and even what he did with his arms during interviews.

Carroll, who has always been active, has also stepped up his workouts.

"I really wanted to get in the head space of pushing my body because he did that beyond really anyone," he said.

Fox family's blessing

Peter Colley is the playwright and John Connolly is the lyricist and composer behind the musical.

Connolly said Fox's story is well suited to be told in song.

"It's one of the great Canadian stories and it's full of passion. Terry often talked about dreams and miracles and hope and these are themes that really lend themselves to music," he said. "Terry loved folk music and I'm really writing in a very rootsy style, and Nathan's voice … has a lot of those colours."

There are very few Canadians as iconic as Terry.- Nathan Carroll, actor in Marathon of Hope: The Musical

Colley and Connolly sought the blessing of the Fox family before moving ahead with the musical and Connolly said that was an important step to making it a reality.

"The whole thing is a tribute to Terry and what the family has done with his dream in the intervening years. It's incredible. They've handled his legacy with a lot of grace and anything that we did I wanted to be sure we collaborated closely with them," Connolly said.

The Fox family came to see a workshop of the musical in 2013 and said they would support it. Members of the family have since attended other workshops and they regularly look over drafts of the play.

Preparing for marathon scenes

One major issue they will need to tackle is the fact Carroll is not an amputee like Fox was during his Marathon of Hope.

Connolly could not get into details of how they will make it appear as though Carroll has lost part of his right leg, but said they will be using special effects.

"I've seen what's being developed and it's a bit of magic," Connolly said, and called the method that will be used, "simple but effective."

Along with the physical barriers Fox faced, Carroll is also grappling with the emotions Fox would have dealt with during the four years he battled cancer.

While the hope Fox showed during his run is often the focus, Carroll said there were also difficult times when Fox did not get along with friends in the early days of the Marathon of Hope.

As well, there's the diagnosis itself.

"I don't know if anyone who hasn't experienced that can really know what that feels like and Terry is quite young when he gets his diagnosis and his future's very promising at that point. So I think really getting into the mindset of hearing that for the first time is probably the trickiest part," Carroll said.

Marathon of Hope: The Musical opens Oct. 7 at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse and will run until Oct. 30.