Movie premieres are customary in Los Angeles and New York.
Not in Lakeland.
But then not all films feature an actor whose Best Friend Forever is an exuberant Lakeland fourth-grader named Jaylen Arnold.
“Lifted,” an independent movie with a plot line that involves childhood bullying, will have a special screening Saturday night at the Polk Theatre, complete with a red carpet entrance by cast members. One of those actors is Dash Mihok, best known for his roles in “Romeo + Juliet” and “The Thin Red Line.”
Mihok, like Jaylen, has Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes involuntary and repetitive movements or speech or both.
In 2009, Mihok learned about Jaylen’s Challenge, an anti-bullying campaign created by Jaylen and his family and promoted on his website, www.jaylenschallenge.org. Mihok traveled to Lakeland to meet Jaylen a few months later, and the two quickly formed a close bond.
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