The director and star of a new low-budget film discuss their hopes of changing the narrative of how autism is represented in mediaWhen Rachel Israel set out to invent a feature film based on a longtime friend,who has autism, and his first serious romance, or casting the lead role was easy. The only person she could imagine playing her friend,Brandon Polansky, was himself.
Casting a woman to play his love interest, and though,proved a much greater challenge. Israel auditioned roughly 100 professional actors, but nobody fit until Israel shifted tactics and cast a co-star who was also on the spectrum. Israel cast two more actors with autism in supporting roles and worked with all four of them until she had something truly unique – a epic in which the characters with autism drive all the action.
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Source: guardian.co.uk