Director Statement

Casting a lead actor on the Autism Spectrum.

Over the years, many film productions dealing with autism have cast professional actors to “act autistic.” The result is often controversial and disappointing. As the director, I was very adamant that the lead role of “Nathan” be played by an actor on the autism spectrum. I worked in collaboration with the Performing Arts Studio West (PASW) (www.pastudiowest.com), a one of a kind non-profit and state-funded training facility for adults with developmental disabilities. Through this wonderful organization, I met a talented up-and-coming actor on the autism spectrum named Jacob Lince.

During the actual casting process, I can’t say Jacob nailed his audition. Jacob had never acted in a narrative film of any kind, but he listened carefully to what I had to say. My gut feeling was that Jacob had a natural ability to take direction well. This needed to be explored.

I returned a following week to the PASW to audition Jacob again, but this time we acted together in a scene. It was important to see if he was willing to trust me. With the help of the PASW staff, Jacob felt comfortable enough to try and act-out certain emotions that were crucial to the film, like genuine sincerity, crying, and rage. By the end of his second audition, Jacob was delivering believable performances through his character.

Jacob is one of the first actors with autism to play an autistic character and also carry a narrative feature film. To his credit, the performances in Nathan’s Kingdom are pure and unlike anything experienced in a narrative film before.

OLICER MUÑOZ

Creator of NATHAN’S KINGDOM