During the 2nd Annual Autfest Film Festival last weekend, Netflix’s “Atypical” stars Brigette Lundy-Paine (Casey Gardner) and Nik Podani (Zahid) gave relationship advice during red carpet interviews, followed by a panel with the whole team. Autfest was hosted by The Autism Society of America, and “Atypical” was one of many films and TV shows shown over the weekend at The Writer’s Guild Theater in Beverly Hills.
When asked, “What advice do you have for teens who want to date?”, Nik Podani gave some great insights that can apply really to anyone dating. Nik plays Zahid, who is the friend and co-worker of the lead role, Sam Gardner. Sam is autistic, wants a relationship, starts internet dating, and Zahid gives him advice on how to pick up girls in the tech store where they work.
On the red carpet, Nik replied with his dating advice and a big smile, “Don’t listen to Zahid.” And then he added, “In all honesty, I would say be yourself. It’s a cheesy piece of advice, but it’s so true…Don’t worry about being cool. Just be yourself. Be weird. Be funky and freaky. Embrace all those quirks because that’s what makes all of us special.”
And then when asked about what it’s like to have teenage siblings trying to date at the same time in the same family, Brigette Lundy-Paine (who plays Sam’s sister, Casey Gardner) reflected, “The relationships are very different, but at the same time, they’re both teenagers. They both have no idea what they’re doing…and they’re just trying to figure it out. So at the end of the day, it’s quite a comedy.” And then we agreed, many of us are still trying to figure out dating, at all ages.
Switching to the family dynamics of the Gardner family in “Atypical”, Brigette added, “The whole point of a family is it’s a tribe. It’s a very animal concept to have a tribe…And anybody who’s dealing with something, the whole family deals with it. Whether it’s autism, whether it’s a layoff in the family, whether it’s a mental disability that everybody has to take on…And I think the families of people with autism, it just comes naturally to them. ”
Along with these red carpet interviews, everyone watched the first episode of “Atypical”, followed by a panel. Netflix’s “Atypical” team was there to embrace this autism community, including: Robia Rashid (Creator), David Finch (Writer, Author, “The Journal of Best Practices”), Mary Rolich (Producer), Seth Gordon (Executive Producer), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Actress), Keir Gilchrist (Actor), Brigette Lundy-Paine (Actor), Nik Dodani (Actor), Anthony Jacques (Actor), Nikki Guttman (Actor), and Michelle Dean (Autism Consultant).
Jennifer Jayson Leigh (who plays Elsa Gardner, Sam and Casey’s mom) confessed, “Being at a laser tag party with my son, and having parents come up to me and tell me how much the show meant to them, and how it impacted their lives, moved me in a way that I didn’t expect because I see the show as a lovely happy, family….When you’re face-to-face with a family that tells you it moved them, you feel really grateful to be part of something that touches people. So I am trying to do a really good job, and I love being part of it.”
And then Keir Gilchrist (who plays Sam Gardner) spoke about his lead role, “I fell in love with Sam’s character and his journey…and it’s an honor to get to do this part on the show.”
And really all the filmmakers and actors at Autfest were grateful to be part of the autism community at Autfest 2018. Everyone there is part of a family and support system that embraces autism, together.
