10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Mr. Robot
2. Esmail And Elliot
The concept of the separation of the art from the artist isn't really one that makes sense. Art is a reflection of the artist, whether it be blatant or subtle, an artist's personality and worldview with bleed through. Mr. Robot is no exception to this.
In an interview with NPR, Esmail goes into a bit of depth on how his life influenced the series. Esmail talks about how him and Elliot's lives intersect, such as the way in which they are both outsiders due to their childhoods.
The comparison goes even deeper from there though. As anyone who has watched the series knows, Elliot has some severe anxiety issues. Esmail has been in the same boat, and took much of his experience that his social anxiety brought upon him into the character.
Elliot's fear of the world that he inhabits is a fear that Esmail shared as well, one that lead him to online communities where he could feel safe. Eventually, when he got into college, he also got into hacking culture. Art, meet artist.