'You Gotta Believe': Young star Michael Cash was mentored by Luke Wilson in family baseball movie

Luke Wilson, Greg Kinnear, Sarah Gadon, and The Sandlot star Patrick Renna are brining back the baseball family drama with You Gotta Believe (in theatres August 30), filmed in Ontario. Based on a true story, the film is centred around a Texas youth baseball team trying to make it to the 2002 Little League World Series, dedicating their season to a teammate's father, Bobby Ratliff (Wilson), who has been diagnosed with cancer.

Much of the emotional elements of the film come from Michael Cash, who plays Bobby's son Robert. As just a young kid, he's trying to play the best baseball he can, while dealing with the scary uncertainty of his father's health. Cash was able to tap into some of this personal experiences for his character.

"My dad passed a few years ago, so I think when I was filming those scenes, it's like reenacting life," Cash shared with Yahoo Canada. "But I'm glad that I got to portray this because I think you can really tell that he's in disbelief of his father, that he's going to die, but you have faith that maybe you can do something about it. But it's almost like, this is it. It was definitely a challenge to do that."

Luke Wilson 'really cared about us'

When it came to acting alongside Wilson for You Gotta Believe, Cash said he was a real "mentor" for the young actor.

"He gave me such great acting tips and tips that can help me on set, because it is my first movie and he always was kind of like undercover funny," Cash said. "On set he's a role model, so he's going to be very professional, ... and then when you're not filming he's always goofy and tells us little jokes on the side."

"He was just really connecting with us boys and even at the end of when we were filming, he gave each boy a envelope that had our number on it and a personalized note in it. And I thought that was just so sweet, because he really cared about us."

But Cash highlighted that everyone who played characters in Robert's immediately family, including Gadon who played Robert's mom, Bobby's wife Patti, "clicked instantly."

"We were telling jokes like the first day on set, we were just having a great time," Cash said.

"[Sarah Gadon] would tell me about all the different things to do in Canada. She would tell us about [Canada's Wonderland] and all the good spots to go. ... She was very welcoming and I felt very comfortable with her."

'I just want the kids to know you just gotta believe'

With this being Cash's first film, he did expect director Ty Roberts to be as collaborative with the 13-year-old as he was.

"I really liked that I got to work with Ty, because he would ask my input on things," Cash said. "I didn't expect to be able to do that."

"So in some of the scenes he would be like, 'Do you think you need to say anything? ... What do you think is going through his mind? What do you think he should say? How do you think he should feel?' ... Luke would always make up things and we would always just improv off of that, and Ty was super for that."

For any young people, in particular, who watch You Gotta Believe, Cash hopes they feel "uplifted" by the story.

"I feel like I just want the kids to know you just gotta believe," Cash said. "I just hope that they'll feel uplifted after they leave the theatre ... and whatever it means to whoever's watching, I hope they find something from this film that will relate to them."