Actors with Asperger's
mcewen
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 8 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 63
Location: San Jose in jolly old California
Why do you think so? I've seen him on interviews and I'm pretty sure he doesn't. Is it because of his Neo character?
just the way he acts in general. he doesn't seem to convey to much emotion sometimes when he's acting. either that or he's not a good actor.
And, if I might add, you get to plan and tweak everything you're going to say so it sounds so good... unlike real life where you usually only get one chance... Also - if this is an "aspie" characteristic - the ability to memorize by rote lends itself well to learning your parts.
I don't think Dustin Hoffmann is on the spectrum, he's very social, seen him on talk shows I would say he's the polar opposite to Asperger's. I've read that Darryl Hannah was diagnosed as autistic as a small child, perhaps you can see it in her innocent portrayl in Mermaid, in real life shes introverted and quite odd.
I remember getting excited when someone told me she came across a website and it said Johnny Depp has it too. Well he suffers from anxiety and he had an obession on lizards and was a walking encyclopedia on them. Mmm, could that be why he did a good job playing Sam in the movie Benny & Joon. He might have it or might not or just has the traits only. They are the only things I've read about him. It didn't say anything else about his difficulty with peers and friends and routines and changes, etc. I don't go around labling people saying they have AS for showing a few signs like some others do so they put their names on a website of famous people with it.
I remember reading on IMDB Erik Per Sullivan has it but then later on I saw the information was removed.
That was because someone diagnosed Erik as having AS because Dewey (a FICTIONAL character people) acted weird in Malcolm in the Middle and submitted the info to IMDB without having any actual proof. I remember coming across his official page which stated he DID NOT have AS
Sorry to necro a post, but it really really gets my goat when people diagnose actors with AS on the basis of how characters they protray act on screen.
I met one person at a convention who insisted that David Tennant had AS because the doctor has AS (ummmm, pretty sure he doesn't, seems more like he's acting permanently cheery as a coping mechanism over Gallifrey) and was very very annoying (as in so annoying you'd like to punch them, but won't because violence isn't acceptable in our society) about it too
time burton?
he and helena bonham carter are married but live in adjoining houses (my dream scenario). also- his eye contact is really funny, and he really hunches over a lot, like he's acustomed to not looking at people. he's a nice bloke though- my friend works as an editor for him- he's a great boss.
speilburg is also said to be.
Seems to me we're acting all the time anyways, memorizing lines to be ready for our walk-on parts. Some of us are more expressive than others is all.
I find drama culture very difficult to be anywhere near - it's very cliquey and social. But if you stick around and actually do the work, they start to take you seriously. I read a part in a script reading series for the first time last week and everyone was really happy I'd joined in. (I've only been going and listening in for a season and a half.)
The job market itself is very unstructured and chaotic. If you have to hold down a day job at the same time, it could be very confusing. I doubt there are many autistic actors out there right now, because of that. You have to wait until a role you can audition for comes up (harder for women, because of fewer roles), then you have to be ready to go on the drop of a dime. And if you're not "on" they'll probably go with someone else. The studio system might have easier on autistic people in the past. They basically worked a regular work week back then, and trained when they weren't on camera, so that would have been easier for people with multitasking issues.
The idea that Orson Welles might have been is interesting. I don't know that much about him.
This is interesting! I'll have to show this thread to a guy I think might be Aspie who I'm trying to get to join this board; he loves acting and is majoring in it in college, and has been in many productions.
I love acting too and want to get a digital camera and make movies. I would need help from a lot of you guys, though... actors... I want to make a film about an Aspie holocaust.
I read a very indepth biography about Garbo, and many of the ways she described herself, her illogical logic, her sensory issues and the way she related to people were very ASD. Maybe she was, or maybe she was just a tactless, gender confused emigre with a fixation on finding comfortable shoes....either way, she was beautiful and fascinating
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Other people are people too.
when reading but it was something my parents thought I should do.It was actually one of the few things I did well(evidently)but I have no memory of "what" I was doing.I think when I was hanging out with the Punks...there was a lot of acting on my part.I was never as tough as I could pretend when I was drinking...
And I always like to remind people that such communication skills and being empathic, while some people think that if Aspies can't do something instinctively, that means an inability or disability, a lot of AS is actually about developmental delays, so it's not necessarily a total inability, it's more a matter of learning such things systematically, actually learning and practising and developing and improving those skills that aren't innate.
So I don't think it's necessarily contradictory that Aspies might be good at acting.
he and helena bonham carter are married but live in adjoining houses (my dream scenario). also- his eye contact is really funny, and he really hunches over a lot, like he's acustomed to not looking at people. he's a nice bloke though- my friend works as an editor for him- he's a great boss.
speilburg is also said to be.
Their set up that they have, the living together separately thing is the only way I can see myself "living" with someone or being married. They really have a good thing.
I think he might be based on the characters he partially creates coming across as autistic (Edward Scissorhands, his version of Willy Wonka) and his overall style of filmmaking... it just gives me this vibe that I can't explain.
I think Darryl Hannah probably is based on interviews I've seen with her. She looks the way I look when people are talking to me with being very uncomfortable (mentioned this in another thread). Also, I'd say Crispin Glover is a good candidate. I've seen interviews with him when he can just go on and on about very obscure topics and not realize that the interviewer is bored. Also, he has a very precise way of speaking that sort of goes with the pedantry associated with AS (and... also... associated with being raised in an acting family).
Spielberg, I still don't get. What compelling evidence is there for it? I've seen it listed on wikipedia that he is, but no interviews with him that he has it. In such a heavy networking town as hollywood, I have no idea how he'd survive unless his social skills are really good and he only has it in a sense that he has sensory issues. I know for my dad, his social skills are good, but he's really terrible at figuring out when he's boring the hell out of people. I've heard people say that about Spielberg.
I used to do theater a lot when I was younger (musical, comedy, drama, anything really), up until just recently, actually. Being "someone else" is the only time when I can comfortably interact with other people. The downside to this is that when I come down from a role, people don't really get that I'm not that person I portrayed so then they try to interact with me and I have to be me again. It's hard to stop being human and start being me.
And going along with what the last poster said, I think that training as an actress helped me to "pass" for NT. Being able to fake being a different person has helped me fake a lot of things. I can fake interest in small talk, I can fake empathy (I have empathy, but it's just weird the way some people will expect me to care about [insert inane situation here], and I'm a really good liar. I've won awards for my acting, so I think that doing this has paid off.
I've read really good things about Spielberg's social skills.
I also think Garbo is a candidate - I have a short article about her that I wrote that I haven't posted on my website yet.
I have had a hard time with acting classes, because of boundary issues. Instructors will sometimes ask you to do scenes with sexualized content, which I am completely not ok with. And there was one trust exercise that involved unwanted touching. No no no no no! And this is in an accredited post-secondary institution, and they don't seem to think there is anything wrong with it. So I guess it depends on the person, and where you study, whether acting lessons help or not. I found voice lessons very helpful, though.
I think I read in Darryl Hannah's wiki bio that she was diagnosed as autistic as a child, but in those days you had to cover it up if you didn't want your child to be institutionalized.
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Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).
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