Robert De Niro and ‘Ezra’ Writer Tony Spiridakis Drew From Real-Life Experience Raising Children on the Spectrum for Their Film

By Lexi Carson

(According To The variety) “Ezra” celebrated its premiere in New York, N.Y., on Thursday with stars Robert De Niro, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and Tony Goldwyn all in attendance.

The film is a Bleeker Street Media release that follows Max Bernal (Cannavale), who is a stand-up comedy writer (with scenes filmed at Comedy Cellar) who lives with his dad (De Niro). The comedian faces challenges when it comes to co-parenting their autistic son (William A. Fitzgerald) with his ex-wife (Byrne).

“Ezra” was inspired by the film writer Tony Spiridakis’s personal life, as he has a child who is on the spectrum. “I realized I didn’t know anything about autism, I thought I gotta write this down. Because of the lack of understanding that I had, I kept thinking, every day was a surprise,” Spiridakis told Variety at the film’s premiere.

“I made so many mistakes as a father, I wanted to show warts and all — the mistakes of being a father of an autistic child because I held on tight, I loved my son, and my son showed me with his wonderful spirit a way out of it, and that was a beautiful thing. So I thought it would make a good movie to see a father be that wrong,” Spiridakis says.

De Niro was attracted to the project because he also has a child who is on the spectrum. “I had certain things about it that I thought should be addressed. Everybody is well-intentioned, coming from a real place,” De Niro says. “It was done with a lot of love and a lot of hard work.”

Byrne the scrip early on from Cannavale and says, “[It] really captured my spirit.”

The director of the film, Tony Goldwyn, says he got involved in the project because Spiridakis is his “best friend in the world,” and he wanted to tell his and his son’s story. “This is a story about destigmatizing autism and disabilities in general,” he says. “More so, it’s about celebrating the fact that what makes us powerful is our uniqueness and our differentness.”

The star of the show, 15-year-old Fitzgerald, made his acting debut in “Ezra.” At the screening’s Q&A, he joked that if he ever wants to stop acting, he’d love to be a history teacher!

Other stars in attendance included Bryan Cranston, Claire Danes, Scott Foley, Bellamy Young, Dianna Agron, Peter Friedman, Peter Gallagher, Asher Grodman and Odelya Halevi.