‘Special’ Trailer: Netflix Series Shows the Highs and Lows of Being Gay and Disabled

Netflix has unveiled the trailer for “Special,” its upcoming series based on Ryan O’Connell’s memoir “I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves.” O’Connell also serves as creator, producer, and star of the show, which follows his journey as a gay man living with cerebral palsy — but not being entirely open about that disability. Avail yourself of the trailer below.

Per its synopsis, the series is based on “many of O’Connell’s real-life ups and downs growing up gay and disabled with cerebral palsy. When the rude curveball known as ‘his twenties’ happened, he was determined to take his life from bleak to chic and embrace everything that makes him exactly who he is. Why be normal when you can be…Special?”

In the show, Ryan leads his co-workers to believe that his disability is the result of being hit by a car and not something he was born with. “If you could get rid of the thing you hate most about yourself, the thing no one else understands, wouldn’t you do it?” he asks. “I was in the closet about being gay, and then I was in the closet about being disabled, and now… no more closets.”

O’Connell leads the cast as Ryan Kayes, with Jessica Hecht as his mother Karen Kayes, Punam Patel as Ryan’s co-worker and friend Kim Laghari, Marla Mindelle as Ryan’s intern supervisor Olivia, Augustus Prew as Carey, Jason Michael Snow as Keaton, and Patrick Fabian as Karen’s neighbor and love interest Phil. Jim Parsons of “Big Bang Theory” fame is onboard as an executive producer.

Netflix will unveil all eight episodes of “Special” — which are less than 20 minutes each — on April 12.