Despite how some audiences feel about Ben Affleck reprising his role as a man on the spectrum, The Accountant 2 director Gavin O’Connor wants the sequel to champion the neurodivergent community.
Following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s recent rhetoric around people with autism, the Emmy nominee criticized the Secretary of Health’s comments as “such an ignorant thing to say.”
“I had heard that about RFK Jr., that he said that. I cannot believe that a man so intelligent would say something so dumb,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “There are a lot of things I like about him, and I’m rooting for him, but I was just dumbfounded that he would say something like that. It’s such an ignorant thing to say.”
Last Wednesday, Kennedy said in a speech that autism is a “preventable disease” that “destroys” families, having since announced plans for a national autism registry.
“These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go on a date,” said RFK Jr. last week. “Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. And we need to recognize that we are doing this to our children.”
Gavin O’Connor at the ‘The Accountant 2’ premiere during SXSW on March 8, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
In The Accountant 2, now in theaters, Affleck returns as Christian Wolff, an accountant on the autism spectrum who un-cooks books and launders money for criminal organizations around the world.
“For us, it was just about humanizing the character. That’s really what it’s about,” said O’Connor, noting that he “surrounded myself with experts” while making the first film in 2016.
“I did a massive amount of research,” he explained. “Ben and I would go and sit down in classroom environments with all these men, mostly men on the spectrum, adults with whom we can ask questions and have dialogue.”
Jon Bernthal and Ben Affleck in ‘The Accountant 2’
Amazon MGM Studios
Despite the research that went into Affleck’s portrayal, not all audiences have received the performance as intended. One writer for The Independent questioned why it was necessary for a neurotypical actor to revisit such a role in 2025, accusing his portrayal of teetering on a “punchline” or “caricature,” without ever actually saying the word “autistic.”
O’Connor also noted that the role of Christian’s proverbial “guy in the chair,” Justine, is portrayed by neurodivergent actress Allison Robertson, as are her team of young hackers at Harbor Neuroscience.
“All the kids in the movie and Justine, they’re all somewhere on the spectrum,” he explained. “And what did I do with them? [I said], ‘Teach me; how would you do this? What would you do? How would you approach this? You become the character, and you tell me.’ And that’s what they did.”
Content shared from deadline.com.