Ryan O'Connell says he and his Special character "were both born in an ableist hellhole"

The Guardian

O'Connell says there are differences between him and his Netflix character. “Ryan still lives with his mom, has no friends and no boyfriend,” O’Connell explains. “He has Norman-Bates-from-Psycho vibes. And that was not my experience. I had a lot of friends. I moved out to go to college when I was 18. I had sex at 17. Not to brag!” But he acknowledges similarities. “Like Ryan, I have struggled with feeling like I’m enough … We were both born in an ableist hellhole, but he is more undercooked than I ever was," he says. "I never felt I had the luxury to be socially awk."