Created by and starring Ryan O’Connell, Special tells the story of a gay man with cerebral palsy stepping out from the protection of his helicopter mom to create a world of his own, which means moving out, making new friends and finding romance. While not directly based on his memoir, I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, the former writer for the Will & Grace revival and author’s real-life experiences as a disabled man serve as a jumping off point for this witty and heartfelt Netflix series.
Debuting to critical acclaim, season 1 earned four Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series as well as acting nods for O’Connell, Punam Patel, who plays best friend and coworker Kim Laghari, and Jessica Hecht, who plays Ryan’s onscreen mother, Karen Hayes. “It was a labor of love,” O’Connell previously told ET. “So, it is like a miracle that we pulled this off [and] I’m just so proud that we managed to accomplish this much with so little.”
While renewed for a second season, O’Connell insisted on expanding the series from its 15-minute episode run to a full half-hour to accommodate all of the stories he wanted to tell, which included exploring Kim’s family and seeing a freed Karen find her footing, while also letting smaller moments have room to shine. However, in doing so, that also led the streaming platform to cancel his series, which closed out Ryan’s journey in May.
Reuniting over Zoom, O’Connell and Patel open up to ET about Special, its many, many sex scenes and saying goodby to the short-lived series.
ET: Congrats on season 2. Now that it’s done, how do you feel about what you were able to achieve with the series?
Ryan O’Connell: I feel great. I mean, look, I’m really proud of season 1. I think there’s some really amazing moments in it, but I feel like as a whole, as a creator, I felt like I was squishing a half-hour show into 15 minutes. So there are certain moments that couldn’t really resonate or breathe the way that I wanted them to. So, again, I’m obsessed with season 1, but season 2, to me, feels like a fully realized version of the show that I had always wanted to tell. And that’s why I’m such a little b*tch to Netflix about expanding to half an hour. I just knew that this was always a half-hour show and it was kind of like creative blue balls to kind of try to fit it into the short form space. So, season 2 to me is, like, I’m obsessed with it. I really feel proud of it. We worked really hard on it and it tells a really complete story.
Punam Patel: I feel super proud of it. And to be quite honest, I feel a little spoiled now because I was telling Ryan, with the show coming out, it was just so exciting because people were posting all these pictures and memories. And it was also kind of bittersweet because I was like, “Oh no. What if I’m never on a set like this again?” Because it really was such a unique set.
Ryan had such a hand in selecting and being involved in every single part of it. And it shows when from the top down, people are really thoughtful because every single person on that set was just an absolute delight to work with. Maybe it’s because there were barely any straight white men on it, but it was just the most positive, creative and nurturing environment I’ve ever been a part of. And then I’m like, “Oh, no, that’s actually really rare. What if it never happens again?”
There’s a lot to love about the series, but one of the things that really stood out was the relationship between Ryan and Kim, especially compared to the more stereotypical, codependent relationships we see between a gay man and a straight woman onscreen. During the two seasons, did you two discuss that dynamic and what you wanted to bring to the screen, especially in a post Will & Grace world?
RO: I remember there were some lines where Punam was like, “This is too faghag vibes,” which I was like, “Yeah, totally.” So she kind of remixed those. But I feel like our real dynamic kind of bled into the roles a little bit. I think it was a little like blurred lines. What do you think, Punam?
PP: Yeah, I would say it was pretty reflective of how playful we are with each other. I think when we met — because neither of us were in the places that Ryan and Kim — we didn’t immediately have that same dynamic. But when it comes to the support and the playfulness and how we’re always going to each other for advice and venting to each other. I think Ryan and I are also extremely honest with each other. Ryan’s my friend, like when I want to hear it straight and not sugarcoat it. That’s who I go to. And I really appreciate that.
And we do give each other a hard time. Even on set, we started this thing — I don’t even know how it started — but I kept being like, “Oh, you’re naughty boy.” And Ryan would be like, “He’s a good boy.” And that somehow made it into the show out of context.
