Emmanuel Jal took film role to help refugees

Singer/activist Emmanuel Jal was reluctant to accept his role in Reese Witherspoon's 2014 movie The Good Lie but took the part when he realized it would help publicize atrocities in his native South Sudan.

The human rights hero, a former child soldier caught up in Sudan's bitter civil war, featured on the soundtrack for the movie as well as playing a refugee called Paul opposite Witherspoon.

Jal admits he initially did not want to take the part but he eventually decided it would help to draw attention to the devastating situation in war-torn South Sudan.

He tells Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, "(The Good Lie's) story is the story of my people. I remembered my childhood when I needed to cry. And now it is happening again, villagers raped. It's a big battle, the refugees need help."