Alum advocates for authentic storytelling in the film industry

Since graduating from George Mason University, alum Alex Plank, BA Film and Video Studies ’10, has worked professionally on films and television series as an associate producer and actor. Plank is also an autism activist who works toward more authentic neurodiverse representation in media.  

“I want my work to show audiences that autistic people have our own stories to tell, which I think general audiences will relate to and benefit from learning from,” said Plank, who founded WrongPlanet.net, the largest online community for autism, while still in high school. 

Plank recently worked as an associate producer and actor on the film Ezra. The film follows the parents of an autistic son, Ezra, played by actor Willian A. Fitzgerald, as they go through a divorce. Ezra’s father, played by Bobby Cannavale, takes him on an adventurous road trip where they encounter old friends and new places. Plank plays a doctor assisting the family after the titular character has an accident.  

Also appearing in the film are Rose Bryne, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro, and Tony Goldwyn, the director of the film. Getting to know Robert de Niro was a highlight, Plank said. 

On October 22, Ezra was screened at the Johnson Center Cinema as part of George Mason’s Visiting Filmmakers Series. Plank did a post-screening Q&A where fans and fellow George Mason students heard about his experience on set, during which he acted as a consultant, guiding the cast and crew throughout the filming process.  

“William is such a great person and actor, and I wanted to make sure to give him space and freedom while we were filming,” said Plank. “I remember for one scene, he was wearing a dinosaur costume and in between takes he kept turning back and forth, swinging his tail around.”  

“He would stop while filming, but it was so natural. I showed it to Tony [Goldwyn] and he loved it so we kept that movement in the film,” he explained.   

Other works of Plank’s include acting and/or producing on ABC’s The Good Doctor and FX’s The Bridge. 

Plank says his courses with College of Visual and Performing Arts professors Cynthia Fuchs and Ed Gero were essential in preparing him to take on jobs such as these.  

“Alex is very self-aware, and he knows how he operates. He's managed to turn that into a remarkable career,” said Gero. “He's also a terrific role model for so many people. I'm so proud and grateful that I was able to have an impact on him.” 

Gero said that the importance of social and physical cues in acting is something he and Plank worked on a lot during their time together in his courses. 

“Responding to physicality or facial gestures is a different experience for Alex, so how do we navigate that?” said Gero, who taught Plank in an Acting I course. “Together, we developed a physical vocabulary where we would look for a gesture or change of voice perhaps; some kind of cue that would give you the information for us to ask ‘how do I interpret that?’ and communicate to an audience that you've received it.”  

Gero and Plank have kept in touch since Plank graduated from George Mason, which included Plank traveling to Pasadena to see Gero portray Antonin Scalia in The Originalist. 

“I was just so delighted that he was even aware that I was doing this,” said Gero. 

Plank is also a public speaker who has attended international conferences and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, on the Committee for Disability. 

“I think it’s important to also look at diversity in disability and make sure we’re representing autistic people who don’t necessarily look like me,” said Plank.