Hollywood & Neurodiversity: Brooklynn & Courtney Prince on ADHD in Film

In this episode of The NF Podcast, we sit down with actress Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project, Cocaine Bear) and her mom Courtney Prince to talk about what it’s like navigating the film industry as a neurodivergent actress. Brooklynn shares her personal experiences with ADHD, how it affects her work on set, and the unique challenges and strengths that come with being neurodivergent in Hollywood.

Transcript

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Hi everybody welcome to the Neuro F**ked Podcast I'm your host Hayley Olivia and our other host right over here the amazing wonderful Jaxon Rosa and let's not wait any longer let's get those little attention spans going let's get going let's do it right now it's time for episode 1 take it away Terrence Finger Guns finger guns really? so 2007 It's time for Neuro F**ked Podcast with your host Jaxon Rosa That mischievous mother-f***er... Hayley Olivia what's your name girl? you on the spectrum? and Terance it's time to get f**ked.... neurologically today we're unboxing a new ADD product. Come's with special triggers from from Hasbro yeah Hasbro's new doll ADD girl alright um so I am Hayley and I know we met a long time ago back when I was like 18 and yeah and then right over here we have my name is Jaxon Rosa nice to meet y'all nice to meet you thank you for coming on to our first podcast by the way this is this is the Neuro F**ked podcast we are going to censor some of these the language used in this podcast here and there we'll have alternative names too but just so you know advertisers okay we're safe we'll be safe I promise but now let's introduce our guest she is incredible she has a long haha insane resume actually my name is Brooklynn I Brooklynn Prince and I'm sitting here with my beautiful wonderful amazing mother who I would not be here my existence is credited to my mom um I am an actor slash director slash content creator um and I have been you know slash comic book writer slash comic book writer who has been in the industry since the age of 3 much to my mom's dismay so I kind of you know drag my parents and my family all around the world you know going to do different projects that you know fuel my dreams and my love and my passion and I would not have it any other way now I wanna introduce one of my other favorite people Courtney Prince my name is Courtney Prince I am the mother of Brooklyn Prince um yes 7 he's pretty awesome um and I am an acting coach I've been an acting coach now for I guess about what how old are you 14 14 so probably about 12 or sorry 16 years cause I was doing it even before Brooklynn was um born and um I that's that's me in a nutshell I mean I like to I like dogs haha same same you know what I like dogs I like to travel like turtles I feel like this is like a dating profile I like I like nice I like not to mention like let let I I like moonlight lit moonlight walks on the beach yeah wow that's incredible I like purple towels oh awesome that's good that's very royal of you that's that's incredible I know that you've known Hayley for quite a while yes definitely um Courtney has been on this journey of me finding out who I am as a person and ultimately figuring out that I am neurodivergent and once I figure that out it was like Bam we found everything like like everything that worked for me and it's amazing so yeah I called it by the way with you and assistant car that one time he knew we were before we did yeah well in crazy enough um you know I know this isn't a lot about the industry but it um that's kind of what I know um there the industry is kind of really trying to make strides to be more inclusive of everyone you know I I think um you know as far as a lot of agencies now have like uh special abilities um departments where you know they're working with people in wheelchairs are working with neurodivergent um LGBTQ+ and um there because I think really now more than ever people wanna see real representation on the screen you know it's like yeah you know Brooklynn has gotten many auditions for like um to play you know someone with autism or something like that and she she's like look I think you can find someone who actually is is autistic and she's like I am neurodivergent but I am not an autistic so I really think there's a better fit a better actress out there for this role than me you know because I really think now more than ever like that's what we all wanna see so um that actually you know Haley I think you know we were submitting to different agencies and stuff that have inclusion divisions under neurodivergent so that's actually kind of really cool so and it's awesome and now I am part of um yeah maybe I should get a manager agent staff yeah start booking me properly call me I can help you amazing amazing right away right after this um so um I just wanted to well um so for Brooklynn Hayley had mentioned I picked her brain about you know stories and stuff about you and you know coming up I want to say you know you started when you were so young in The Florida Project I looked up some of your interviews your charisma on on stage and then the interviews is just incredible um yeah it was hilarious it was great you've got a natural timing um the the thing I wanted to say was um you know Hayley had mentioned you know the Florida Project and the experience on that what is your first memory or like a core memory of working with Haley because it's we're just kind of like bringing that up I cause cause it's kind of connection you guys are essentially automatically friends of the show just because you're friends with Haley so I wanna bring that stuff up so tell me about that Brooklyn um my I said it kind of early so that kind of spoiled the memory I remember each night I would I came so she was babysitting my two year old brother and I was on the um the show and I was on the show and I would work for 9 hours cause you know that's the time that I'm permitted and I was 8 and I would work for nine hours work up really early and then come home and I had a specific regiment it was um eat dinner take a shower learn your lines go to bed and I remember every single night I would try and get my lines in early so I could go downstairs and I would knock on Hayley's door and I'd be like Hayley can I come and hang out and she she'd open the door and we would sit on her floor and watch James Charles videos like until my parents came down and they're like Brooklynn to go to bed and I remember I I had to be on a specific regimen because as like neurodivergent people like I my brain has to be on you know a regiment especially when I'm doing something like a job I always have to have some sort of like repetition so that I'm prepared and I feel prepared when you can and is that your ADHD oh yeah I mean he's and so dynasty so that helps like she has to have like a like a schedule idea otherwise my brain gets like so frazzle like I'm ADHD so like I'm like what do I do and I knew like every night I was just so like heck bend on being like I need to get my lines done so I can go down and see Hayley and poor Hayley I would knock on her door at like 9 o'clock at night and be like after she was watching this 2 year old all day do you remember anything of Hayley during the Florida Project remember how she would tell you yeah oh so I remember this I remember this Haley would take me to Starbucks Haley would take me out of course you would when I can explain myself I get to go to Starbucks with Hayley and I got a croissant there once I got croissant breakfast sandwich because she would pick me up like she would be there early in the morning and like when you go on set you either eat breakfast really early before you go or you eat breakfast on set in like I've just I've never eaten breakfast on set like I don't know it's never a thing for me to have eaten breakfast on I have but like that early in the past the past few years in the past few years like when I was little I would never eat breakfast on set and I would never eat breakfast at school those are like the things I remember and like I don't know I just I liked home breakfast and so um or like breakfast somewhere else I don't know it's always weird having breakfast at like the places like I wanted to be at I don't know it's a weird thing about being a ritual like it was a ritual because I would I uh and that's also early on when I realized oh I really like routine um I really like my routine a specific way and it was great because this little 6 year old was just more than willing to just be part of like my regular routine everyday when I brought her so um so corny would just send us on our way and be like have a good day and everything um and then we would go to Starbucks yeah like bye guys and go to Starbucks and I will get a strawberry refresher in a um ham and cheese breakfast croissant and that was our everyday and so when Hayley picked me up I knew exactly what I was doing and they were like not worked for me and you yeah like we knew what we were doing and we were prepared to go on set because on set it is very unpredictable and yeah very like there is a schedule but there's also not a schedule like their schedule flies out the window once Sean Baker gets like loses his cool okay like when Sean Baker doesn't have his espresso the schedule better just like see itself so so you all you were all healed by the power of Starbucks by the power of Starbucks yes in some ways it was me and Haley preparing for a day that was very just like not just chaotic sometime with our divergence but now I wanna talk about let's start with Courtney when you started noticing that you were neurodivergent in a way and like figuring out what that was what that meant to you um anything along those lines oh yeah that's a great question um so I am a lot older than you guys so she's playing wild or hard listen to others came with geriatric millennial oh my God I'm a millennial too he's a millennial I'm like a geriatric Gen Z guys very old I'm not gonna guess I promise I wouldn't guess anyone's age we're all when I when I was growing up you guys like this was not a thing it was um mental health was not a thing it was like it was very under the rug it was very like um growing up I had anxiety very badly I had um PTSD I had um you know a few things from some things that had happened to me from my child or like young young childhood um so anxiety depression normal you know what I like to say is normal stuff because honestly I really think anxiety I think depression I think all those things are so normal and I think it's so important to normalize especially when we're young children you know 12 13 14 like our hormones are changing our bodies are changing um I had a patch where you know I was really going through it with those kinds of things but uh you know my mom and taking me to a therapist or to a psychiatrist and you know I was diagnosed with all these things and on top of that ADHD um but back then neurodivergent wasn't a thing it was ADHD take some Ritalin shut up you know kind of thing I mean it was my parents were never mean like that but you know it was very much like you know there was not a lot of help you know it was just kind of like take this and just deal with it um I never liked Ritalin so I stopped taking it um you know around the same time and kind of just learn to deal with all these chapters and like tabs being open in my brain like at all times um and so um I think for me I've kind of always known that um but never really knew that a lot of the things that I was doing was helping to um fuel myself like in ways like um I have a very hard time focusing on things so I make lists I make schedules I we don't in in our in our lives it's harder to be um to follow routines because of her job but before that it was always like a routine it was things like that that I realized as I've gotten older and uh you know mental health is becoming more of an okay thing to talk about that I've realized like my whole life I was coping I was figuring out a way to help myself not really even knowing what I was doing um so it's but as far as knowing I was like neurodivergent I would say it was in the past like year or so that I really knew that like being ADHD was you know a neurodivergent thing um I also within the last year was diagnosed with OCD so that's really fun having ADHD and OCD super crazy and apparently I've been OCD my whole life I just nobody ever told me there you know I was on the doctor skipped one on us yeah I was like just talking to my therapist and she's like has anyone ever told you that like you might be OCD and I was like and like nothing in my life ever made more sense like when she said that to me it was like my brain you know that yeah that cartoon like explosion where I was just like no go ahead you can cuss yeah yeah I was gonna say where I was just like holy shit like yeah this makes so much sense to me because in in my life also I realize that the list you're part of an OCD thing so I think in some ways my OCD was kind of helping my ADHD which is so crazy to think but like it made so like so many things became clear to me in that instance and um it it so I would say I'm really kind of learning now to navigate it and and to like be okay with it but I am really happy with um especially podcasts like this and and you know even TikTok is as horrible as it can be it can also be you know really um welcoming to kids and younger people because you know mental health is is is really everybody's problem and it really is like everybody struggles at some point in their life so I think being open and able to just like talk about these things is like super awesome yeah so I was gonna say to your point Haley can actually attest to this I make a lot of lists and I showed Haley how I kind of organize out my day I only prefer to see the seven days ahead of me and then I can do only what I can fit on a slice of a page is fit into that day because otherwise things become overbearing and overwhelming yep so to create that structure is really important I feel that also applies to a lot of different recipes of neurodivergency you know you have that underlying thing exist within all of it you know so of that needing to write your own rule book for how you structure out your day and how you do anything and so that's a very that's a very astute thing to notice and you either discover it on your own or you have someone say oh by the way this type of thing help I also self discovered that because I was starting a business I was starting my own thing I needed to be my own boss from you know I was doing that for a while but it was so much chaos yeah and doing that was also like survival you know yeah like how do I operate in a world that where I need to you know be my own boss where I need to function um so that applies to just about everything yeah and Jaxon do you also find like I know you guys are supposed to be asking us questions but I wanted to ask you like um because I'm a business owner as well and I I was never good at working for other people because I just found it really hard to like um I I don't know I I get I just found it hard I I found you know I don't know why I just did and so I was in when I started my own business but don't do you find sometimes that like um it having I totally lost my train of thought so having a neurodiversion thing maybe something along those lines like it's something that tends like someone who's on the spectrum or anything that has to do with that they tend to want to not be in a typical neurotypical environment because nothing is built for our brains it's built for a neurotypical brain yes and that's kind of exactly where I was going with that and and I also think sometimes like um I find it more rewarding to work for myself because I'm like I know exactly what I mean it when I'm writing these crazy notes when I'm like you know uh remember you know Jello and it's like oh I know exactly what I meant when I said that it has nothing to do with Jello but it has exactly I knew exactly what I was saying and I I you know I think a lot of times like for me when I was working for other people I was just it was harder because I I didn't always feel like my my patterns were you know met like a different language you know the work environments yeah the work environments um again neuro neurotypically built so they don't they say they accommodate um being on the spectrum anything like that but in reality they don't even know what that is yeah they don't understand it and I've I've had that like directly in my work environment right like you're he's always over here like he's the one that is like saying Hayley do this list do this this will help you this will help you you need to work remotely you need this this and this helping me navigate what I've discovered this past year so he's been amazing help to me just well figure it out you know do you feel like you had a school system like a school experience down to the workforce um those are they can be kind of overwhelming um you know so my schooling experience was filled with drama around what is an accommodation oh he has this oh oh by the way Jaxon like you know school isn't for everyone you could quit like if you want to you could quit hearing those conversations told to you yeah over and over again you start to be like you know I don't really like authority I don't I don't think they know what they're talking about and I see through it all so you know why don't I just carve my own path and so what was love it uh I know that you're homeschooled Brooklynn what was your schooling experience like going through you know acting and everything I wanna bring you back into so like going through your early acting process and do you feel like that that was the right move you know homeschooling especially as a young actress yeah I I feel like for education purposes it was the right choice um I'm a very slow learner and I so I had a teacher back in um back in on him before dark actually Miss Jenny do you remember Miss Jenny Haley she was the best she understood she's the only teacher I've had who's really understood what it's just like I think she knew I was neurodivergent without even telling me like she just knew how to handle me and she handled me very differently than the other kids but that wasn't a bad thing like if there was something so I hyper fixate on things like it's a part of ADHD I just have these things I like hyper fixate on and so at that time I was really hyper fixated in indigenous cultures so my Miss Jenny with the permission of my parents took me out of my um history enrollment for the year and just took me around places in Canada educating me on the indigenous peoples um and when it's back home you know I I do my computer work um I have my computer stuff and it's nice cause I can work at my own pace I don't have to overload myself with work I don't have to fry my brain out because I remember Miss Jenny always being like I always have to be careful with the amount of work I assign you because when your brain gets too fried your brain stops working so and I think that's just a way of saying when your brain gets overwhelmed your brain stops working so I I really liked being able to take it out my own pace being able to take you know everything out if I don't understand something I can always go back and fix it but it has been very challenging socially um I have a lot of friends but in the past months or so I've really had to find a new way and I went through a phase and I was like 11 where I like I had like two friends and I would pretend they had people sitting across from me at the dining table at lunch because I was so jealous of my friends telling me you know that they're in school and you know they were at lunch together and they were sending selfies of each other from across the table and I was like hi Susan how was your day and I was like that's an empty chair but like I feel like in the past few years I've really had to to make friends out of you know the school kind of system and that's really hard like the way kids gain friends in the way you grow up making friends and like the way you supply yourself with friends is through the school system because you see them every day and I see I so my friends I would say I have three really good friends who are homeschooled and I would say like it's really nice because we're able to um relate on the fact that we don't find the social aspects the same way in life and that you know we're trying to you know all go through this kind of like homeschool kind of realm together and No.2 they're both as awkward as I am like I mean I'm I'm a very awkward person and my mom and I were just talking about this and because it's nice to have my mom because she grew up with her mental discovering her kind of neurodivergent so and I got mine she just immediately was like oh yeah yeah you felt bad yeah and so you know let me show me the doctor and the doctor she's like yeah she has ADHD and she's like I knew it so I show you but I think the really great thing about that is though is now Brooklyn you have your mom is discovering this now and she's able to help you in any way she can right and that's really awesome um and it's nice cause when we're working together we'll both be like talking and I'll be like and then I I and then I was like I and she was like slow down yeah she can get help me give you the tools that you need and helping you figure yourself out your brain out how it works because as a neurodivergent person and Jackson knows this your brain is constant it's like your brain is on fire all the time do you know SpongeBob where he has all the cabinets and everything's on fire and he can't find anything yeah and yeah and he can't find anything that's that's kind of what it's like because nothing there's your your brain is built in a way where it's taking in a lot more information at the same time so yeah yeah so you mentioned that earlier about feeling overstimulated and that's a very like common thing across the board is not for everyone's thing but it's attached to a lot of variations of different disorders I personally um at the smell of coffee when I was little would bang my head against I would be like I would be like oh no it smells so terrible like I was so very offended like I was so offended by like sounds smells and she I am bad I'm bad like what time one time sorry go ahead and you know we were all and that's another way we know we're all neurodivergent because we all are cutting people off now we talk over yeah squirrel yeah I'm very very careful about letting other people talk because my natural tendency as well is to 1 overshare and 2 have a thought and immediately speak it into existence so I I definitely agree with you really I was at a party yesterday and I was like my favorite color is black and mint green sometimes lavender my favorite number Wanna know my favorite number do you have a favorite number my favorite No. 6 speaking of 6 my dog is 2 but she was born on July 4th no January 4 second January January 2nd but that doesn't really have any relation to 6 does it well you know what that's a sign yeah you're a creative you know you're like that's a thing it kind of melts into it and so that's actually like a combination of like add add but analogical thinking and I noticed that cause I'm an anaological thinker I I will take one topic and I will think 10 topics ahead so when people like you know we're not talking about that bro I'm like no no no that's what we're eventually gonna be talking about I can see into the future I have and maybe Jaxon maybe you might relate to this is I was talking about this my mom my mom she when she gets you know nervous or has anxiety or has like the her neurodivergent triggered because it is hard for a neurodivergent person to go into a group of neurotypical people or people who maybe have neurodivergents but you know they don't know it yet or you know they can't communicate very well and so she you know doesn't really talk and that sometimes like makes people be like I thought you were me like when I first thought you were gonna kick my ass yeah you looked at me strange when I get in front of a group of people I start talking non stop and it was actually the way I made one of my friends because I decided to embrace it one time I was at this party and so I sat down next to her and she was she's like an introvert to the mat size and so what's your favorite color she was like I don't really have a favorite color and I was like mine black and she was like oh okay cool and I was like so do you have a dog and she was like yeah I actually do have a dog and I'm like yeah three their names are Remy Mooney Monty 1 16 but he had a brother his name was Harley but he died actually when I was up in Vancouver shooting a show apple oh I'm an actor and she was like oh okay oh yeah well I I have a dog too and she's pretty old too yeah yeah and I actually found that that was like when I like I like to when I go into a room pinpoint the people that I think my oversharing is going to work with yeah yes right you gravitate towards the people on the same length as you and that that's true for like my twin sister Sarah you guys know um we were both like that all throughout school um there were kids who were well known as being autistic or anything like that but those were the people that we much preferred to be around because we are without realizing we understood how they worked and we knew that how we behaved or how we were would make sense to them we didn't just explain her yes right exactly yeah there's a thing where we make friends in different ways too and I definitely gravitated towards Haley and her sister when I first met them in the in the way that like there was an unspoken thing and like a way that you know just just add water you know a friendship where you're just like just some water I I honestly there was one incident recently I wouldn't say incident it was really hilarious I sold a camera to someone on Craigslist and I went out and I went to him and he gave me he's like oh you gave me a great deal bro incredible guy Korean guy bodybuilder lives in Koreatown David shout out David I yeah I met up with him and I said hey do you play tennis do you do any do you wanna do that sometime it's like oh my God yeah yeah of course and I'm like oh cool I get his info and then the next week or so we go play tennis he's like you wanna come back to my place we just eat like food at his place a week goes by and I like you know I've been talking about creating this podcast with my friend Haley and it's about neurodivergencies like oh bro I'm on the spectrum I'm autistic it's like I have a whole group chat filled with my other guy friends that I know that are and I'm like really and I said you know what's interesting David we met in the most autistic way possible who meets her friends on Craigslist like I literally was about to be like oh my gosh you are so brave to sell things on Craigslist I'm all fearless the mom and me the mom and me was panicked I was like wait a minute now he's gonna meet him for tennis like I the mom and me was like oh my gosh no I was like but it was like I I realized cause I part of the social aspect tonight I realized this actually last night and cause I was what like people just don't like me and I was like but I have a lot of friends so I can't say that and I was like I think it's just that like I think they don't like me because I I recognize the the unique patterns in my behavior that maybe they are more attracted to becoming friends with but I'm not attracted to in myself right there was a moment where Brooklyn was out of art class and she came out she was really upset and she's like I just feel like I say too many things and I feel like I'm talking and I'm talking and I'm talking and I'm talking and I said well how about this I was like if you feel like you've been talking for a while and nobody else has said anything maybe stop like take a step back cause this is something I've had to do over the years and you you need to ask somebody anybody three questions three questions about themselves but it can't be like boom boom boom it has to be like what you do you like dogs and the person says yeah I like dogs will have a conversation about dogs and then both of you are given take and then ask the person another question and then ask that you know have a conversation and then ask them another question I said in that way like it's something I had to learn without somebody teaching me social cues it was something that I kind of was like I think this is what I'm supposed to be I think I'm supposed to also be like asking people about themselves um and so it was something and then she went the next week it was like mom you were right like it it helped me because then I was you know I felt like other people were also talking so while I do think that like and you should love that you should love everything about yours I incorporated that into you know like I like I said I went up to this girl and I was like so what it so I asked her questions but I also was like I feel like I make friends with like some of the most introverted people and I think it's because like I bring out the extroverting them yeah and so now when I go to things I will pinpoint the most extrovert or introverted people and I will go talk to them because they know those are the people that my personality gets along with but my mom strategy has helped a lot whereas like it feels like cause also sometimes it can be taken as oh she's self absorbed like she only can talk about herself right she never shuts up about herself common misconception about so that deal with it is that there's this like self involvement thing but when really it's just you know it's that hyperbaric chamber of things you wanna talk about and that you're passionate about like a champagne bottle that just opens up all of a sudden that you just need to you need to say the things and I would I would just add that like it's kind of a way that I've described it and I'll probably continue to describe it on this podcast but anxiety needs to escape somewhere and I know it's a it's like a force of nature it's a force of um it's physics energy needs to escape whether you know was my Tourette's when I was younger whether it's someone speaking whether it's like something else that you know the energy needs to escape so it's I think that it's really interesting cause there's also a myth that in the worry or concern that my child or me or whoever I feel like I'm gonna be stuck this way and the truth of the matter is that you everyone has the ability to make small changes and that people on the spectrum or with neurodivergent tendencies actually end up overcorrecting in their lifetime because they have had to pour so much energy and attention almost like it's its own um they have to write a thesis on it you know I thought that was normal yeah yeah yeah but but I just it's kind of a it's kind of my hopeful way of looking at it cause it can really be really disparaging socially if you're like you said when you're feeling like I just like felt like a social assassin when I went I like chopped to the yeah I chopped to the room and like I feel like I didn't leave any that's cute and I remember being like I was always just really good at like making new friends and talking to people and everything like that but for me it was really hard continuing those relationships sure um and it was always like I don't know what I'm doing wrong or anything like that because and then it's also this over analysis um I cause like it feels to me like because my brain isn't as typical as other people's or as like you know focuses other people's like I sense almost like those little disturbances in the force if you will but like you know I'm like oh something something's coming like something weird is gonna happen it's like I'm also that person like you can't text me and like I gotta talk to you later about something you can't do that to me no I gotta talk to you later and then you're like you have it you're like oh my gosh I have to move out of the country I have to change my name I knew my friend had a crush on my other friend just by like I would watch her and their interactions and like the slightest slightest little stuff and when I came to her about it she was like how did you know how did you know and I gave her this whole long text about like I saw at this moment when your eyes suddenly did a little thick to the left that you had a crush on him and she was like what that's crazy and I was like yeah I know you'll be training I know all your knowledge you'll be training an AI with all your knowledge about this about these small human interactions I feel like what you said about empathetic you know tendencies the yes like that's that is a thing and you know I would also add that is experiential right it's about you happen to be a coach like an acting coach yeah that in itself is like you read you know and that's probably where you got it from Brooklyn in a in a way there you like reading into these details of the human condition and the human emotion so in a way that hyper fixation on those things is almost maybe programmed into you so it's probably a little bit of nature and nurture I feel yeah that makes sense yeah about that you know yeah cause literally it's my job to read people's cues my job is to dissect characters so and to study people and to study the way people talk the way people act to be able to look at a scene partner and know what their energy wavelength is so me and my mom were just talking about when I'm talking to somebody and I know they're unimpressed I or like I feel like they're excited or they're angry or sad like I can just read that vibe um she has ADHD so like doesn't that make it hard for her to learn her lines or to act or to be on set and I think I'm good at folks it's and I think the thing is I'm good at that's her hyperfixation like that's the one thing that she she goes in and she's like a fish in water like she ain't she knows her line she knows what she's doing where she's going who's gonna be there where the camera is like she is seen it in action too like it like it's just like a switch like Bam hype like hyper fixation is our superpower for Brooklyn um it was really good that while she was on set like she was saying like anything could happen like you know they could change the scenes they could change the costumes and I would say like the only thing that ever really rocked her as far as you know Neuro Spicy was if they gave her itchy tight itchy tight they gave me tight if they gave me something tight on my body or they gave me a hot mic pack I remember my hot mic pack sensory stop pulling it off or not playing it off I always grab it with my hand and trying to get off my back like it was or when people taped the mic to my skin I hated it I hate it when they tape the mic to my skin um and really I mean the it's it's something that I've Learned to like deal with over the years and I've gotten better at it I just like tuning it out I still want more tights like when I go to when I go to fashion meetings my not fashion meetings but um fashion shoot no not fashion shoot oh sittings things I go to sittings for movington my mom will just walk in the door and be like are those tights yeah I like to have my own voice mainly like I will wear the tights and I love wearing like I for if it's for a character I will wear tights but I I like they I'm gonna be itching my legs all day and that's the thing is um that's actually some of my questions too for you guys as we're moving towards people understanding a bit more what it means to be on the spectrum or to be neurodivergent like anything under that umbrella is how it's accommodated on set so being able to say I like stick speak up for yourself Brooklyn like that right and and you speaking up for Brooklyn as well like look this may be a small thing to you wearing these tights and I will do it but you need to understand my limits with it and what I'm going to need to do in order to keep wearing them even though to people who are not typical it's like what why yeah what I'll tell people is when I was a kid the seams in my socks are the seams in my jeans imagine that that was um imagine that that was the feature of those that clothing so so it's like okay imagine if the seams were a strip of Scotch tape running all the way up the side of your body yeah feel that one thing and you focus on that one thing and it amplifies up to the point where you're just like oh my God I can't function in these goddamn jeans yeah so if you don't mind me asking does it feel something like that where you just your mind you know you can't take yourself you can't like feel comfortable in something like that it feels like somebody set my legs on fire and like there's a bunch of or or like there's um I used to describe it as when I was little cause I went so the first a tight heavy movie I did cause the Ford Project I was wearing like shorts and t shirts all the time really comfortable like cotton stuff and so my next movie The Turning I was wearing tights the entire shoot and my grandparents were there so it was also like my mom and that was before my mom I think that kind of whole shoot was the reason my mom kind of started being like oh I think she has sensory issues I think she has ADHD was I would try when I had these tights on if I had them on for too long and I'd always be pulling them up on my legs and they'd be like Brooklyn what's wrong and I'd be like there's feels like there's needles like there's a bunch of needles on my legs and it hurt like it hurts and so at lunch I would have to like rip my tights off and my legs would be like like would be red because they were having like my body was having a reaction my mind and my body were both having a reaction to the amount of stress that my body was under for these tights being on it felt like like my legs were literally like being poked by a thousand needles and I just was told to kind of like by my grandparents cause my parents weren't there my parents are really understand my I was my grandparent was told by my grandparents and the costume designer just like deal with it you know and so I did until home before dark came and I really started my mom and I started having a lot more voice because I realized it's more than just me being a brat or like high maintenance it's the fact that like my brain in these the texture of these tights are like hell to me but that's the unfortunate thing too is that having those little things you're constantly called over emotional high maintenance problem person right when yeah she's yeah she's problematic like she's hard to work with she's and not I would say probably that in your case my love is probably not the case because Brooklyn is a really good human and I think on set people really appreciate her but I think what it's what it's done for us so that we don't have that issue is we had to learn to like um kind of like Jackson was saying beforehand foresee that conversation like 10 10 steps in advance so um when we first meet with the costume designers I will in fact ride a front because Brooklyn actually for a very long time she wouldn't wear jeans either because the it was the same thing or like leggings or anything like anything that was like compression on her leg she didn't want so um I would speak with the costume designer and I would just feel like listen like she um has issues with tights she has issues with like jeans if you're gonna do jeans like can you just make sure they're not super tight um and I'm like and it's not because she's problematic I said it's a sensory thing and and actually like we got a lot of I I yeah yeah and yeah and like so actually um in one of the episodes of home for dark she had to wear these knitted wool tights they were they were the most beautiful tights you have ever seen somebody specially knitted them for her but she couldn't handle it and so um the costume designer and I we like they were so good to you though they lined the inside the inside they gave her leggings to wear like underneath the tight so that like it they wouldn't stretch in um so like I will say like um you know one of the biggest things that we found is just kind of trying to like head off those problems like before they even start yeah and and on the other movie and their defense I didn't I was 7 so I didn't know how to do verbalize I was just like it feels itchy it feels and like everyone is like just that's normal FYI it's like it's tight my feels like every day when I was a little girl I had to wear tights and go to school in the pool and tights and so I was like well Mimi could go to school in the cold and tight so can I that's incredible advice for young actors that might need to figure out a way to communicate their needs and I would add if there was any push back on it I would go into the analogies kind of like what I was doing and I was like okay listen imagine a bunch of um acupuncture needles lining that one area of the of the legging and you know whatever you know amount of discomfort a normal person will feel amp it up by 20 times 20 right yeah um because that's how it's gonna feel so you take something that maybe is already uncomfortable for someone and you just say it's like that but you know but it's up here so I understand that like it's not I'm not making this up you know it's not personal yeah it is it's not you know I hear tights are beautiful but you know so pretty and so cute so beautiful and I wore the things under it and of course like I felt a little bit of tingling on my legs but more yes more than I but more than like it it helped me be in the scene and I I was able to be in there and you know they would come in the accommodation made a huge impact to you and it made a huge impact is able to function Brooklyn um you know she's a lot of times you know they're giving her a bunch of notes after each take they're giving her probably like you know five notes and then there you know asking then you know you have somebody come in and like mess you know mess with your face and then somebody's coming in and fixing your hair and now the director is giving you a note that you know like two minutes ago but he gave you all these notes and like it's it's you know there's there's lights and there's sounds and there's um smells and there's all these things happening at one time um and so what I've had to learn because I know as a mom when all those things happen to me just in everyday life I'm like I get really agitated like I'll snap and I'll just feel you know I'm my kids or you know my husband um and and I've had to learn to be like you know hey guys I'm feeling really over stimulated right now so I'm not trying to be mean I just can't handle everything that's going on in my brain right now so with Brooklyn um we've Learned how almost like a signal you know usually there's some kind of signal uh cycle that show look at me or yeah or or like stills I'll say like you know you have a say your safe word is like you know cactus or whatever and if I hear that I'll come in and I'll just kind of like take her aside for a second and be like okay let's just take a big deep breath like it's just like let's close our eyes for two seconds let's take a big deep breath okay and like I've obviously heard what the directors said to her because I'm on ears with her so I can hear like on the mic like what the director has said to her and I will tell the directors a lot of times like um a lot of times the sound guys will turn off the sound like in between takes because for like privacy and stuff but I always ask them to leave it on for her so that I can hear because I'm almost like her second pair of ears right so um you know and I'm like you know sometimes in in nine times out of 10 the directors are fine with that but you know um and I'll just say what the director said to you is he you know just reminding her very you know like in a more like quiet tone and like you know more like you know where there's not 1,000 6,000 at one time multiple actors to go back and do a DP to talk to cameraman refocus the shot they have a lot of stuff so they're coming okay and then they run out to do the other three so my mom will come in and give me a more video chill he'll chill come in and give me a little bit more of a summary and I've noticed that directors will at first be a little bit like what is this cause there is such thing as industry parents and directors are very wary of that so they come in and they see my mom they see my mom who is very hands on with me not a not an actor like not an industry parent at all just is very hands on with me because she knows me better than anybody and so you know they'll come in see my mom is very hands on me they'll get a little bit worried like I always see that like tad bit of worry in them and then once we get like a weekend yeah shooting once they get a week the shooting most times directors will realize that my mom is like the reason I spit all together like yeah I'm not me without my mom so they won't usually that I help my mom will come my mom Dylan by my mom to like come work it or they'll go directly to my mom be like can you tell her these notes because my mom knows how to say it better to me so that it computes in my brain and my parents have definitely done a really good job at like at break time you know taking me off to a place where like there's not as many over stimulus things or at lunch on home before dark they used to keep a blanket in there and we would watch like Netflix and they would keep everything quiet and the lights are dark and low and like everything would be very like like just like shut up chill so that when I went back on so I had more energy to be able to be in those situations do you have a system in place for you or like a type of vibe like for me in this place I have all my lights go red like I in the room infrared like I just like at the end of the night I just like have a ritual of like of just making everything like chill for myself tuning out the world if you will do you have things that you like to do in that instance either on set or offset you know yeah I I'm a typical teenager in the fact where I love music but my relationship with music is a lot deeper than like I like to listen to music and make a band in me like music really like it it feels like a place where like I can people I don't have to talk people understand me so this is your cup yeah all the songs on my playlist except for like some like I have some from like the Lorax I don't know I like listening to funny songs that make me laugh um I have a lot of Disney songs on there so it makes me happy like I have songs on there that means something to me and invoking emotion with me so I don't have to so it's almost like someone else kind of carrying my emotions for a little bit and it puts me into a mind space so I use a lot of music um I'll do that usually when I'm going to and from set I'll pop in my earbuds and I'll listen to music the entire way there or before like a a big scene a big scene I will I'll listen to music like my mom has playlists so I'll put one Airpod in my ear and almost kind of sit like vibing out um I also like just go back to when you said it carries my emotions for a little while I love that because that makes so much sense because when you turn on the music it just it it it kind of it that it it kind of um it takes away it takes away the need to I to to like hold your emotions because they're so big yeah right and I this this might actually put it into words I was at my therapist's office and I was telling her about my relationship with music and I was like I I need music like I need music I have a swing outside and sometimes I'll go out and swing out there for an hour just like listening to music and I was like I'm not trying to like get away from people I just like I music I I don't know and she goes music vents for you yeah it's like a safe space where you and another person or you know not exactly the person cause like you don't have to like you know you don't have to like Queen right you don't you can be the like you can hate Queen but you can find a Queen song that you feel like Terry's your your motion is a safe place for you to vent it's just that space between you and that song that the motions don't need to explain it's a deeper knowing and that there's only two things I've ever found that in music and god and like those two things have been really my safe places where like I don't need to explain myself it just is and so with music like I just I feel like the song knows what I'm feeling cause the song is playing for a reason I'll talk a little bit more about some of the new projects you have going on specifically I've heard wonderful things about a comic book that you've been working on tell us a little bit about that tell us a little bit everybody everybody hope for Arc 2 to be okay because um I it's it's like it's we're subject my brother brought it up but like it's like my brother brought it up but everyone in the car was like Helen source subject Bud really really Danger Danger because we were like it's a source subject and we really tried to fight for a second arc but it's just not looking too hopeful I came up with a comic book oh my gosh what is it about three years ago three years ago oh my gosh and um I came up with the comic book about 3 years ago an idea um about this girl who you know is probably neurodivergent too she's she's basically me in Comic Book 4 um so add doll but now add psychic girl haha so um it's a girl named Vivian and she is kind of feeling out you know places where she belongs she is you know just turned 15 so she's kind of doesn't know her place where to fit in she just notices she is weirder than most of the people um around her and you know probably in the way we're like neurodivergent people sometimes feel different than neurotypical people and she just feels kind of out of place so her grandma shows up who she's never met before it is kind of like yo girl I know you I know a place where we can go and that is Hemlock Hallows which is a psychic town that um just kind of is uh a place for young psychics to go and learn and um develop their powers and for them all to eventually stay there and just you know thrive in this town as psychics and let yeah like a bone there like a Hogwarts for weirdos yeah is you know but Brooklyn um the first issue completely sold out from the distributor so that's that's a pretty good undertaking we're very very happy with that um and I think the people who did read it um actually really liked it like they you know they were coming up they were yeah it's a really fun little story and um amazing story she did such a good job of I feel um there's an antagonist in it who Brooklyn Brooklyn Brooklyn does such a good job of humanizing that um you actually I actually like her better than the main character don't say that about Vivian story don't say that about Vivian guy um I I I get very like butthurt when I talk about Vivian cause briar it the our antagonist is a lot better than Vivian she's better she's my favorite but Vivian is me so I'm like but the thing is I've actually met a lot of people who say their favorite is Briar but there is a lot of people who say their favorite is Vivian and I asked them why and they go because she's just human the thing about Briar is she's hot yeah she's not perfect no she's and she makes mistakes and she just like a crazy person and we love her yeah and I just I really enjoyed that about hearing people's just thoughts on the character another thing that is coming up is a script I was writing since I was three years ago this I was 11 and I wanted to write a script so when just like picked up I started actually writing it in a word document so I've had it it was really bad formatting so then and now it's formatted all nice but I it was the first story I'd ever written the first story I'd ever kind of taken the leap of trying to create content on my own and you know for years we were perfecting it cleaning it up and we just about got to this year you know where I sat down I was like okay I think it's done and we were hemining on about it we're like what do we do and my mom is like well why don't we just make it I don't wanna go to college um I feel like I like learning through experiences through life um and I feel like for the route that I want to cause I do eventually wanna become actor director producer writer and um I for all those things I feel like I can learn their experience and I do have a lot of connections and people that like I'm maintaining with and talking to and like I feel like if I maintain that course throughout my life like I don't I I eventually don't think I need to go to college or see myself going to college so I took kind of like my college money in so go ahead oh you had your Juilliard course at 6 yeah like it yeah I got a head start it was actually really weird she had Professor Sean Baker at 6 years old it was actually really weird cause um when I was like 8 years old I remember asking my friend um I was like hey what do you wanna do with your life and she was like uh an eight year old I don't know and I was like what do you mean you don't know and like it was the hardest thing growing up and making friends and I always ask him what do you wanna do with your life what are you gonna grow up what what source of income do you have like what I I don't know it but it was always so normal for me to have that that was like I have to out there has to be another kid out there that like has this drive at least knows for concrete what's they what they want to do I was really ashamed of the fact that like you know my brain in my opinion didn't work like other people's and that you know I needed something to help me and I'll never forget when I spoke with my doctor my doctor was like Courtney like do you know how many people are on something like she's like I see everybody from you know um you know just housewives to CEOs of companies to um you know whatever and and and being in Hollywood actually um I have a lot of friends who are in the industry and in LA it's very okay like all these things people are always talking about mental health they're talking about like I remember telling you know my friend I was having issues with anxiety and she's a massive show runner and you know a million dollar writer and she was just like just like go on Lexapro or whatever and I was like wait what like people talk about these kinds of things and then you know she was like oh yeah I just I I can't come this time because I'm gonna be meeting my therapist and I'm like wait you like talk about that like like in the open you know and so I think that's my advice my advice is just like whatever makes you feel good like don't don't be ashamed of it my life completely changed around when I started medication for my OCD like I didn't know that like I didn't know what it was like to feel kind of norm to have normal thoughts you know and and you know cause my big thing with OCD is not like I'm like you know come full something free washing my hands or anything mine is intrusive thoughts like I just like I'll take a thought and just like you know turn it into whatever and I didn't know that like it was possible to feel a little bit more normal and so that's really you know my advice especially for people my age older who kind of grew up with parents that didn't wanna talk about this kind of things or wasn't cool you know that like their friends didn't want they don't want their friends to know like their kids were you know on medication or witchcraft yeah witchcraft wizardry you know whatever like I just think that like you know like it's okay like mental health is a thing and and everybody has some sort of element of like struggling with it from time to time so like it's okay to like seek the help you need that's my advice incredible yeah that's amazing for listening to this message haha this message was approved by mom and daughter I'm Brooklynn and I approve this message just wanna shout out to you guys you guys are the first yeah our first guest is incredible Brooklyn Brooklyn yes we're very honored to Brooklyn Prince Courtney Prince we can find you in your latest short film Thanksgiving set date release date we're not sure yet in the future we'll see that in the future we're not sure yet but we just wanna know that that is that sounds really freaking awesome yes yes yes and also you can find her comic book us uh sumerian comics um if you wanna say what store specifically they can go and grab it um just go to your local comic book store and ask them and they will order it for you so even if they don't have it in stores you can ask them they can order it for you from the distributor sorry and I also have the link on my bio on my Instagram which is@thebrooklynnkimberly with the blue little check Mark that I'm so and also on the graphic novel the graphic novel is November and is October November I thought is okay maybe October I think October hey everyone thanks for watching the video would you like would you subscribe could you do all the nice things write a comment what you like what you didn't like we're here for you we're gonna be here for you with all your wants needs and desires in your deepest fantasies but maybe not that maybe not that but like you know Hayley what do you think I think we should start over I think my eyes were closed wow sumerian.ink