No one can accuse Steve Carell of not being an actor willing to take chances, whether it was on television in the series The Office or in a wide variety of movie roles. And based on the film’s new trailer, fans should be particularly excited since the Welcome to Marwen release date — Dec. 21 — will be here before we know it.

In the film, Steve plays Mark Hogancamp who suffers a devastating attack that results in his losing all of his memories. There is virtually no hope of him making a recovery, but somehow he manages to start putting together pieces from his old and new life. Describes Universal Pictures, “He meticulously creates a mythical Belgian town, Marwen, where he can be Captain Hogie, a World War II fighter pilot. Here, in Marwen, Mark can be a hero, fight his enemies, and rely on his friends. As he builds an astonishing art installation peopled with breathtakingly life-like dolls — a testament to the most powerful women he knows — he draws strength from his fantasy world to triumph in the real world. A bold, wondrous and timely film from a revolutionary pioneer of contemporary cinema, Welcome to Marwen shows that when your only weapon is your imagination… you can find courage in a most unexpected place.”

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(Photo Credit: Universal Pictures)

The lead character and his situation is actually based on a true story, which filled Steve with a genuine need to portray him honorably. “There’s a responsibility whenever you’re portraying somebody who is a real person,” Carell says. “It’s incumbent upon you to do that person justice as best you can. Obviously it’s not going to be exactly him. It’s not going to be exactly his life. It’s going to be an interpretation, but at the same time, there are some core qualities to who Mark Hogancamp is, and I don’t want those things to be lost. What drew me in to… this project is that he’s a very courageous guy. He has, against all odds, created his own method of healing. It’s astonishing what he’s been able to achieve, and the integrity that he has as a human being shines through. I wanted those qualities to be evident in my portrayal of him.”

Welcome to Marwen, which is directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forest Gump), will reach theaters on Dec. 21.