from the article above on Bones and Zac with Aspergers
While Boreanaz's character, a hard-charging agent with intimacy issues, doesn't exactly break new ground in television, Deschanel's Dr. Temperance Brennan, a brilliant scientist with extremely limited social skills, probably does. At least for women.
So clueless is Brennan when it comes to the way most humans interact that Boreanaz's Booth has been forced to become a sort of guide to the world outside Brennan's laboratory.
When asked if Brennan might not actually have Asperger syndrome - a condition many doctors consider a form of high-functioning autism - Deschanel nodded.
"Hart Hanson, the creator of the show, and I discuss, you know, that my character almost has Asperger syndrome, and, you know, if maybe if it was a film, that I maybe specifically would have Asperger's," she said.
"If you look at the character of Zack, [a Brennan subordinate who's] played by Eric Millegan, he almost definitely has Asperger syndrome," she added.
"I think it's fascinating to have a character who's brilliant in one area and clueless" in others, Deschanel said.
"And it's so sweet that she's trying to learn about things. You know, I talked to a psychologist who specializes in people with Asperger's and she said she's worked with kids who start at 12 years old not being able to understand, you know, a social interaction almost at all and then are now in college and can have relationships that are almost more in touch than a lot of kids their age, because they work so much in therapy and work so hard," she said.
22 Jan 2010, 4:14 pm
