To celebrate autism acceptance month, I’m going to post something positive about autism every day through April.
Did you all know that actor and artist Sir Anthony Hopkins came out as autistic last year?
Some people might think that being autistic would make you a worse actor because we struggle to understand facial expressions and change the tone of our voices. Those people would be wrong.
His autism is actually exactly what made Hopkins such a good actor. Because he often struggles to understand people and their mannerisms, Hopkins likes to closely observe the way other people interact and analyze everything about them- their facial expressions, their tone, their use of body language- in order to replicate them whenever he is forced into social situations. In a certain sense, Hopkins has been acting his whole life.
Hopkins’ detailed observations of the way people interact and emote wouldn’t be possible without his autism, and he translates all of that into his acting. Just watch this video about a scene from ‘Westworld’ as an example:
When asked if Hopkins thought his autism helped make him a better actor, he nodded and said;
“I definitely look at people differently. I like to deconstruct, to pull a character apart, to work out what makes them tick and my view will not be the same as everyone else.”
Happy April to all autistic and neurodiverse people! I hope you all have a wonderful month.
(Day 2/30, follow #aprilautismpositivity for more)
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