Mickey Rowe, an autistic actor, relates the ups and downs of his acting career in Fearlessly Different. Mickey grows up learning the world is a minefield for autistic people. Yet, despite all the negativity, Mickey works to make his career goals happen. Finally, Mickey gets his Big Break:
“Much like when I received my autistic diagnosis, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time made me realize there really are other people like me out there in the world. It reminded me that I am not weird, or stupid, or bad, but just like Christopher I am powerful, and I can do whatever I want to do and accomplish the goals I want to accomplish. I read the book and knew I was not alone. I had a community. I had a people. I also knew that I needed to play this part. The show was going to be on Broadway next, in New York City. I lived in Seattle. I didn’t have an agent. But I did have three things: courage, imagination, and determination.” (p. 49)
And Mickey’s courage, imagination, and determination finally gets him the role of Christopher, an autistic character, in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Although Mickey achieves success, his personal life is a train-wreck. Mickey married a woman who became increasing psychotic and abused both Mickey and their children. After The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mickey still faced problems getting acting jobs because of casting directors discomfort with autistic actors. Here’s Mickey on misconceptions of autistic actors:
“They [the casting directors] often think an autistic person could never be a great actor, because we are too much like robots to convey powerful emotions onstage. This stems from the common and damaging misconception that people on the spectrum either don’t feel emotion or don’t have emotion. That’s simply not true. We feel emotions just like everyone else and can identify them within ourselves. What’s hard for us is correctly reading other people’s emotions.” (p. 97)
Reading about Mickey Rowe’s struggles broke my heart. Here is a struggling actor trying his best while almost everyone around him doubts his ability. Even more tragic is that after Mickey’s success in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time his career stalls. Another struggle ensues and Mickey’s efforts to success continue to be tested. But, if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Mickey Rowe. This is an inspiring story laced with sadness. GRADE: A
