Director Gavin O’Connor expressed dismay over recent comments made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding autism, calling them “such an ignorant thing to say.” In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, O’Connor said he was “dumbfounded” that Kennedy, whom he described as an intelligent man, would make such statements.
Last week, Kennedy described autism as a “preventable disease” that “destroys” families during a speech, while proposing a national autism registry. “These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go on a date,” Kennedy said. “Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. And we need to recognize that we are doing this to our children.”
O’Connor, whose film The Accountant 2 is now in theaters, stressed the importance of portraying the neurodivergent community with respect and authenticity. Ben Affleck returns as Christian Wolff, an accountant on the autism spectrum who specializes in laundering money for criminal organizations.
“For us, it was just about humanizing the character. That’s really what it’s about,” O’Connor explained. He described the preparation that went into both the original 2016 film and its sequel, including in-depth research and personal interactions with adults on the autism spectrum. “Ben and I would go and sit down in classroom environments with all these men, mostly men on the spectrum, adults with whom we can ask questions and have dialogue.”
Despite the research, some reactions have been critical. A recent commentary in The Independent questioned the decision to have a neurotypical actor portray a character on the spectrum, suggesting the performance risked becoming a caricature without explicitly labeling the character as autistic.
O’Connor highlighted that The Accountant 2 includes neurodivergent actors in key roles. Allison Robertson, who plays Justine, and the actors portraying her team of hackers at Harbor Neuroscience, are all neurodivergent.
“All the kids in the movie and Justine, they’re all somewhere on the spectrum,” O’Connor said. “And what did I do with them? [I said], ‘Teach me; how would you do this? What would you do? How would you approach this? You become the character, and you tell me.’ And that’s what they did.”