From WENN.com

The Hollywood actor is nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Pat, a bipolar patient struggling to adjust following a spell in a psychiatric institute, and his performance has also won praise from members of the public who are battling real life mental health issues.

He explains, ""More than 100 people have come up to us and said, finally there's been a representation that's authentic of what I've experienced in my life. Or they've said, I know somebody who has this condition, or I do, and I understand it better and I feel like there's hope for me.

""It happens every single time we do a Q&A (question-and-answer session) after a screening - at least three or four, sometimes 10 (people), and you really believe that they mean it.""

Director David O. Russell was inspired to write his screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Matthew Quick, because of his experiences with his bipolar son Matthew.