Trivia / Everything's Gonna Be Okay

• Actor-Shared Background:
  • Kayla Cromer and Lillian Carrier, who play autistic characters Matilda and Drea, respectively, are both autistic. Carrier also works as an autism consultant on the show.
  • In "West African Giant Black Millipedes", Lyndsey mentions that she knows how to fence. Actor Vico Ortiz, who plays Lyndsey, is a competitive fencer.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: According to Josh Thomas, Richard Kind sent in an audition tape for the role of Toby, completely unsolicited. Realizing that he'd somehow lucked into having a well-known actor on his show, Thomas hired him immediately.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Lillian Carrier originally auditioned for Matilda, before the role went to Kayla Cromer. Creator Josh Thomas though liked Carrier's personality, and the idea of a character with a support dog, so Drea was created specifically for Carrier.
• The Danza: Sort of. Luke, Lillian Carrier's real-life support dog, plays Duke, Drea's support dog.
• Dawson Casting: Lillian Carrier who plays teenage Drea. Carrier's exact age is not publicly known, but her profile on the Ourtism website states she's in her 20s. Similarly there is conflicting dates for Kayla Cromer year of birth with most sources pointing to a 1998 date of birth but a few list it as 1994. Cromer’s own Instagram points to the latter with a birthday post in 2016 listing it as 1994. Either date still plays this straight making her either 22 or 26 during season 1.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor:
  • Matilda and Drea - who are both autistic - are played by autistic actresses Kayla Cromer and Lillian Carrier respectively.
  • Eric, Alex's deaf father, is played by deaf actor CJ Jones.
• Executive Meddling: According to Thomas, one of the few times he got pushback from Freeform was when he decided to test their standards and practices department by adding a scene were Nicholas recalls a five-year-old Genevieve calling him a "faggot". The network insisted on running it past G.L.A.A.D. first, but ultimately allowed it, as long as he was the only one who said the word. Thomas jokes that he is very proud to have the first Disney-affiliated show to use that word.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: In a non-pregnancy example, Matilda is almost always shown with a fully-covered torso in order to conceal Kayla Cromer's muscular build, which doesn't really fit Matilda, who isn't shown to be very athletic.
• Method Acting: According to Lillian Carrier (Drea), Kayla Cromer tends to stay in character as Matilda, even in-between takes and filming breaks. Carrier joked that she feels she knows the character Matilda more than she does Kayla Cromer.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Josh Thomas, Adam Faison, and Vico Ortiz are all LGBT+ (Thomas and Faison are gay, while Ortiz is genderfluid) and play LGBT characters (although in Ortiz's case, they play a cisgender lesbian.)
• Throw It In!:
  • Both Kayla Cromer and Lillian Carrier were encouraged to use their real-life autistic mannerisms for their characters.
  • Richard Kind showed up to the set with a full beard and wild hair after weeks in quarantine, but offered to get a haircut and a shave. Josh Thomas decided that the beard would fit Toby's character better, and encouraged him to keep it.

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