here's walter mcmillen.n a sense, wrongly convicted of a crime that, a city he'd never been in, a person he never met and all of a sudden he sits on death row. >> reporter: before his trial. >> before his trial. the worst thing you can give a death row inmate is hope, and all of a sudden, hope walks in, in the form of bryan stevenson. >> you don't know what it is down there, you're guilty from the moment you're born. >> reporter: when you say guilty from the moment you're born. >> i grew up in texas. i was 8 years old and i got called [ bleep ] by a grown man. how is me being born, how can i receive all of this hate? >> when jamie plays walter, i think he exposes the agony of being wrongly convicted and the trauma. >> reporter: what do you think of michael b. jordan playing you. >> i'm honored. he was terrific. the only thing i asked him not to do is to go on some lawyer drive. i said you can keep the creed body. >> it's to achieve justice. and as long as you keep fighting this, someone from your county has

jamie foxx plays walter mcmillen.sponsibility to take on this role. >> jimmy: it really spoke to you when you heard his story and heard about it. >> i felt like, listen, this thing happened 30-some-odd years ago, but it feels like it could have happened yesterday. >> jimmy: have you ever played a living person before? >> a living person before? no. >> jimmy: so that's like, you must be nervous when you show them the movie, him the movie the first time. >> yeah, i played oscar grant, fruitvale station. >> jimmy: yeah. >> he was tragically murdered. but i got a chance to know him through the people who knew him the best. i got a chance to watch the movie with his mom and family members. this situation, being able to play brian, he's there, he's a resource. i can call him. i can ask him for help if i get stuck anywhere. if i need to look to him for, for motivation for things. but then also he can call me and tell me what i'm messin' up, too. >> jimmy: did he do that? >> no, he was actually really excited that i played it