“I was a very earnest sort of 'Yes, and' improv theatre kid,” he said, referring to an improvisational comedy game called “Yes, and.” Maslany also drew on his experiences from high school.
“It was a nervous tick that I had, so bringing that into Townes grounded me, and that is just one of the ways he deals with anxiety.” “When I was younger I would chew on my sleeves and I would chew on my shirt collar all of the time, so they would be shredded and soaking wet,” he said. He has difficulty dealing with large groups of people, has an online girlfriend and tends to chew on his shirt sleeves - something Maslany said he also did as a kid.
Townes is a science and comic-book buff who thrives on routine and becomes Henry's sidekick as she navigates personal trauma and figures out how to take control of her newfound powers in their Upstate New York town. “So learning a little bit more about the psychology behind that was really useful.” “Really it's a spectrum, there are so many different ways that it can manifest and show in certain people or not show,” Maslany, who lives in Toronto, said in a recent interview. Maslany, who grew up in Regina and is the brother of “Orphan Black” star Tatiana Maslany, says he met with an autism specialist who works with people of all ages and specifically a lot of teen boys who are on the autism spectrum. Maslany plays Townes Linderman, close friend of Maddie Hasson's lead character Henrietta (Henry) Coles, a high school outcast who discovers she has the ability to teleport and mentally move objects. TORONTO - In crafting his autistic character for the Toronto-shot YouTube Original series “Impulse,” Canadian actor Daniel Maslany consulted an expert and drew on his experiences from when he was younger.