Autistic Filmmakers Changing Perceptions Of Casting Neurodivergent People In Hollywood

A short film that addresses Hollywood’s damaging stereotypes of autistic and neurodivergent people has been on the film festival circuit and has won awards across America. Written and directed by autistic filmmakers, Once More, Like Rain Man is about an autistic actress who is constantly turned down for roles for not being “autistic enough.”

In this interview, we spoke with Director Sue Ann Pien and 18-year-old Writer and Actress Bella Zoe Martinez – who both identify as autistic – about their short film, their award success at film festivals so far and the importance of changing perceptions on casting disabled and neurodivergent actors in films.

Growing up autistic in a neurotypical world

Sue Ann Pien and Bella Zoe Martinez believe they have contrasting experiences of diagnosis and understanding of autism. The pair highlighted the diverse ways autism can manifest and be understood, particularly for women.

Sue Ann is a Gotham and Indie Spirit Award-nominated actress, best known for playing Violet in the critically acclaimed Amazon series As We See It.

Now in her directing debut, Sue Ann began by sharing her story of growing up undiagnosed, navigating academic success but facing social challenges, particularly influenced by cultural expectations:

“I was born in 1979 when there was much less understanding about what autism/Aspergers in females looked like, particularly in females who do not have any intellectual disability.

“It meant I got straight A’s easily in school, tested as highly gifted by an elementary school psychiatrist, but at the same time had odd/eccentric behaviours that my mum couldn’t understand.

“Coming from a Chinese community, she held onto her cultural fears that I would not do well if I couldn’t fit into “normal” society, and she would try to protect me from being bullied or outcasted in school or social settings by teaching me to perform/act in public settings.

“By the time I reached adulthood, I had many severe mental health challenges that I couldn’t understand, and when I finally went to see an autism specialist in my 30s, we realised it was my undiagnosed Asperger’s.”

In contrast, Bella reflects on being diagnosed at an early age and growing up with autism as her “normal,” experiencing acceptance within her family.

“From what my parents said, I was diagnosed at 18 months. I got services before I was two years old and I could tell the difference between how I responded to things and how my sister responded to things.

“I never realised I was autistic; I knew what it was, I knew I was different, but I don’t think I fully registered it in the sense that it was bad or something to be ashamed of. I was just Bella and I wasn’t treated differently from my siblings. It was my normal.

An introduction to the performing arts and becoming autistic filmmakers

In life, our formative experiences shape not only who we become but how we navigate the world, especially when faced with the challenges of neurodivergence. Sue Ann and Bella’s early encounters with autism and the arts reveal their resilience and growth.

From the classroom to creative expression, they each developed unique ways of coping with misunderstanding and adversity. Their stories demonstrate how both support and misunderstanding can influence personal development, particularly in environments where neurodivergence is not fully understood or accommodated.

Sue Ann said: “In first grade, I placed 1st place for my Winnie The Pooh monologue that my teacher put me up for because I had also won our school’s Principal Award for Most Improved Student that year. I was in a special class for students who couldn’t read or speak and within a few months, I had started outperforming most regular students with my precocious reading ability.

“We now know this is hyperlexia – a frequent trait of autism, where one decodes verbal language quickly and effortlessly, but often without the appropriate development of reading comprehension to match.

“After skipping second grade, my teacher had to intervene in third grade to flag my lagging skills in understanding what I was actually reading, even though I could grasp words and sentences beyond my grade level. My mum coached me in my Winnie The Pooh performance and was very keen to ensure I did not show up ‘strange’ or ‘out of the ordinary’ in public, as a way to protect me throughout my childhood.”

Bella said: “I was always surrounded by films and my parents were in the film industry. I loved seeing animated films and video games. Me and my brother would play video games together and my sister loved to set up shows and direct us.

“I had this little camera, which I used to make vlogs for my YouTube channel and create stories with my toys. I’d talk with my toys like my friends, especially when I was being bullied. It was also around that time when I got into anime and drawing. I took drawing more seriously and it saved me. Making comics with characters helped me cope with being bullied.

“It’s around that time when I created my original character, Bella Daze. Originally, she was a character that was a persona, one that represented me in a sense but wasn’t me. I never saw her as me, but she was like me. And eventually, she became her own person. She became Bella Daze.

“The challenges in the performing arts/film industry are very different from being bullied. Unlike those bullies, a surprising amount of people are misinformed about autism. I might mask it a lot better than most to where people don’t even realise that I’m autistic, but I am.

“Sure, I’ve had people from the school district that I went to try to take away my autism diagnosis because I was “coping well.” I was coping, but I was coping in spite of them. My mental health was taking a downward spiral at that point and I snapped because of them. My mum was there at that IEP and I told them everything that had been building up for many years at that point. That was my last chance for them to really know what I was thinking.

“People generally assume that anyone with a disability onset would be difficult and that accommodations would be extremely expensive, which isn’t true at all. It’s that people are afraid to try because of them being misinformed because of how little information they have.”

Sue Ann went on to share whether she ever played roles or cast characters who just happened to have a disability but the storyline had nothing to do with their disability:

“With most of the acting I’ve done, I was an actor without any disabilities – this feature of who I am did not become highlighted until my role as Violet in Amazon’s critically acclaimed series, As We See It.

“However, as a director, I have actively been casting disabled actors in non-disabled roles, such as Danielle Perez, who plays a casting director in Once More, Like Rain Man. She’s a wheelchair user, but you don’t even see or know she’s disabled in the scene because she’s such a fantastic actor that it doesn’t matter. The disability is simply a feature of who she is, like having brown hair versus blonde hair, or green eyes versus black eyes, rather than all of who she is, as the industry often portrays it.

“I also cast Carly Fahey, the disability consultant on As We See It, as a casting assistant to Jenee La Marque’s casting director character in the short film. Carly uses crutches, but it doesn’t mean her character can’t run the camera on that session in her scene! It was her very first acting role ever and she was wonderful.”

Bella added: “I had never had the chance to play a character with a disability that had a storyline that wasn’t about that said disability. Except for Zoe in Once More, Like Rain Man. Zoe does have a disability, she’s autistic, but it’s more about her being an actress and trying to have a future that has her in it rather than her autism.”

The production of Once More, Like Rain Man

Sue Ann and Bella told us how they both met each other and started to produce the short film Once More, Like Rain Man.

Sue Ann said: “Bella’s family sent the script to me and asked if I’d act in it. I countered that I’d love to direct it, and producer Suzann Ellis reached back out with a resounding ‘Yes!’. The message behind Bella’s script was important for me to champion, and the short film is a PSA of sorts. It also serves as proof of concept to open doors of employment for neurodiverse, disabled, and autistic talent to lend their skills both in front of and behind the cameras.”

Bella continued: “We reached out to the 1in4coalition.org, and our producer, Suzann Ellis, introduced us to Sue Ann. We went out to a restaurant and had cake and pie. Sue Ann and I clicked immediately, she was amazing! I loved talking with her, and she was an absolutely wonderful director on set.

“I loved working with Sue Ann and couldn’t have asked for a better director! I think having a director who’s also an actor gives them that little extra spark, but having a director who’s both an actor and understands what it’s like to be me was entirely next level. It allowed me comfort and freedom to not hide for once.

The pair then told us about the actors in the film – Matt Jones and Sosie Bacon – and what it was like working with them on set. Matt Jones is best known for playing Badger in the critically acclaimed drama Breaking Bad. Sosie Bacon is the daughter of Kevin Bacon and has played roles in films and TV shows including the horror film Smile, the  Netflix Original series 13 Reasons Why and also the Amazon series As We See It.

Sue Ann said: “Both Matt Jones and Sosie Bacon are incredibly supportive allies to the disability community. They volunteered their acting services to champion this film’s message. We are truly lucky to have them on screen, and we need more neurotypical allies who have found industry success to lend their voices to our cause.”

Bella added: “Matt and Sosie are amazing people. I am so grateful that they were a part of the film. Matt told me his mom works with special needs kids. Sosie is the nicest and most kind human being on the planet. She was also part of the amazing show, As We See It. She loved getting to play the mean girl for once. I still get chills when her character enters.”

Sue Ann also mentioned what it was like working with a neurodiverse crew:

“As an actor trained from a young age to fit into the world around me, I say it’s like being born with a MAC operating system for a brain, but learning and downloading PC software skills to get along better in this PC-run world.

“I may be able to move between most social, business, and family interactions easily/observably seamlessly now, but it still takes much more energy to activate my intelligence, acting skills, and logic to navigate appropriate social responses than it would a person born with a ‘natural’ PC operating system getting by the world intuitively.

“I actually get along better with most other autistic/neurodiverse talent, as there’s less pretence in the way on both sides and a more fluent underlay of communication, which does not rely on learned masking abilities on my part to partake in.

“Some of my talented friends on the autism spectrum and I will get into an almost telepathic mind-meld when working on a filmmaking project together because we’re spending less time dealing with relational conflicts that can happen with people who operate from more of an egoic origin that causes a loss of fluidity in team dynamics towards completing the vision at hand – whether it’s running a film, or running a country!”

Bella added: “If you didn’t know they were neurodiverse, you would’ve never guessed. Just like me. A lot of the cast and crew had some type of disability, but it never felt that way. Everyone brought their A-game, and anyone who was neurotypical on set was representing someone in their family or a friend who was neurodivergent – and found it to be much better than any other set they’d been on!

“It was honestly the most chill set I had ever been on in my entire career. We managed to finish on time or early every day, and it was NOT easy.”

Bella continued discussing what it was like working on set, including some of the many technical and logistical challenges the team had to face: “Our first AD, Katrina Gould, had to deal with some of the most technically challenging film days. The montage scene had 14 costume changes each, with an exterior and interior element in one day, and that was just for me playing Zoe.

“Another day, we did the full 4-minute song (Distant Goodbyes), straight into a dialogue exchange and then a long monologue. Sue Ann wanted to do it as one continuous take, which turned out to be 11 and a half minutes long. I did it four times perfectly before we went into coverage. Pulling off that shot was extremely difficult, and this was with half the crew that a regular TV show would have.

“Our second AD, Tricia Meola, ran the set as professionally and well as anyone had ever seen – she had a constant stream of actors, some with disabilities and some neurodiverse, coming in to do one or two lines. On a regular show, she would’ve had at least a team of three people under her to meet them, get them to make-up, wardrobe, and off to set, and Tricia did it all by herself. They were absolutely outstanding.”

Once More, Like Rain Man on the film festival circuit and winning awards

Once More, Like Rain Man premiered at the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival and won Best Comedy. The film also screened at the NoHo Cinefest in mid-September, where the film also won Best Comedy.

Sue Ann told us how it felt to win Best Comedy at the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival:

“The win was a HUGE surprise – I am in awe of how far and how many festivals have invited us in. I personally did not expect this response, as it was a technical filmmaking experience for me in terms of learning how to manage a production of this scope with department heads who were all much more experienced than myself as a director.

“Even though I’ve been making music videos since 2016. I treated it like an internship or film school experience that could set me up for directing episodics; making my days play out like I’m on a union set was of uber-importance to me, and getting the crew in and out without wasting their time was also important.

“I was lucky to have the right mentorship and support to guide me through with Suzann Ellis, Darren Dean, and of course, Bella’s parents, Andy and Melissa Areffi, who were producers that did much of the heavy lifting production grunt work.

“We have also received many rejections, but it’s a good learning process for all our new and young autistic/disabled talent to understand that’s typically the experience for everyone, disabled or not, making their way through our fickle industry. A ‘no’ just means we’re one step closer to the next big ‘yes’.

“But I’m definitely very grateful and humbled to the festival directors who see us, understand our message, and made a choice to champion our cause to open doors of employment for disabled, autistic, and neurodiverse talent in the entertainment industry, with Once More, Like Rain Man by handpicking and elevating our film amongst the sea of fantastic films we’re floating amongst in their submission pools.”

Also reacting to the award, Bella added: “It was absolutely insane. Everyone is extremely talented and I was grateful to share my film with so many stellar filmmakers.”

Sue Ann went on to tell us about their other award wins and upcoming appearances at other film festivals: “We just won Best Comedy again at the NoHo Cinefest! We are screening at the Lady Filmmakers Festival, Utah’s Red Rock Film Festival, Healdsburg Film Festival (judged by the iconic Tom Waits and Ed Begley Jr.), Glendale Film Festival, and we just added LA FEMME INTL FESTIVAL.

“We are really hoping to break into other markets and overseas Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying film festivals, as autism awareness around the globe may be a few steps behind what we’re doing out here in Hollywood and we want the message to reach far and wide.

“Personally, my life would have been easier if my family understood what female autism looked like when I was younger, especially growing up in a traditional Asian culture where disability was seen as a shame or defect the family wanted to hide from the public. I know families in other similar cultures face these challenges with their own autistic/neurodiverse children, and I’d like to see a positive narrative enter the cultural zeitgeist regarding autism, Asperger’s, and its varied expressions – including the one our film champions in regards to female autism neurotypes.

Bella added: “We’re going to the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival in Beverly Hills on 26th November. We’re also going to Napa Valley for the Healdsburg Film Festival two days later, my dad and brother are representing the film in Cedar City, Utah on that same weekend, and Sue Ann is representing the film at the Glendale Film Festival on 28th November – crazy right? Three festivals in the same weekend. Needless to say, I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions to the film and what we do next!”

Changing perceptions of autism and neurodiversity

When asked if she is hoping this film will change perceptions of autism and neurodiversity in both society and the film and television industry, Sue Ann replied: “That’s a resounding yes. I’ve put in years of my life to this cause through this film.

Bella also said: “I’ve always been told that people care about what they see. You have to find a way to connect with someone. Connections are a very powerful thing. Everything that is said to Zoe in the film was said to me – most of them almost word for word. But I never took it like they were trying to be mean, just misinformed. That’s the reason that the characters all have names like Producer 1 or Director 3 – we didn’t want to demonise anyone.

“I love this industry and the people because the people generally do want to help others, sometimes they just don’t know how. And how do you expect someone to represent someone with autism authentically unless you show them what it truly is like? They’re not psychic, just like how I’m not psychic. It would be useful, but I don’t think I’d like to read people’s minds indefinitely.”

Sue Ann and Bella concluded by sharing advice to other neurodiverse and disabled people looking to start a career in the performing arts or film industry.

Sue Ann said: “This career is a business that requires certain skills, tenacity, a bit of luck, and a truly collaborative team that’s separate from simply partaking in the joys and craft of being an actor or filmmaker. Not everyone may have the necessary commitment to overcome the arduous road that all pursuits of dreams will entail, but if you can build the strength of character to join and uplift your community – ask what you can add to your teammates’ lives and careers with your unique talent and skills or disability/neurodiversity – then you have found your calling.

“Use what is different about yourself to give the casting directors, characters, and studios a gift in your own vibrant humanity’s different lived-in expressions that nobody else can give, and you will go a long way towards fulfilling a calling beyond yourself.

“There will be times when it’s very hard, but the friends and family that you’ve nurtured and grown along with will reach out their hands to lift you up and support you. This camaraderie is the team spirit that builds all filmmaking teams from the ground up.”

Bella said: “There’s a moment at the end of the movie Rain Man, when Dr. Bruner is trying to convince Charlie that Raymond is incapable of living with him, and Charlie responds, ‘He’s capable of a lot more than you know.’ Why am I telling you that? Because you need to know that you’re going to be told ‘no’ a lot of the time, but don’t give up.

“So many people have come up to me and said, ‘I thought I couldn’t do this,’ but then I saw you did it, so why not me? Think of it like a 100-question quiz, and you only need to be right once to get an A. Those are certainly fantastic odds, right? And sometimes you just have to hire yourself, don’t wait for someone to make your dream for you.

“Realise your dream with people who want to see it through to the end with you. Sometimes you’re taking a chance on yourself, and that’s all you’ll need because it is up to you to make a future that has you in it.”

Watch a promo video of Once More, Like Rain Man and follow Sue Ann Pien and Bella Zoe Martinez on Instagram.