Disability In Hollywood

Disability Representation on the Big Screen

Lights! Camera! Action! This holiday season, the anticipated release of Wicked is breaking down barriers of genre, race and now accessibility. Marissa Bode is making history by authentically using a wheelchair to play the character, Nessarose, the younger sister of the wicked witch, Elphaba.

Marissa Bode began using a wheelchair at 11 years old after a car accident. “I love seeing disabled characters be played authentically by real disabled people, because no one knows us better than us,” Bode told The Los Angeles Times.

As the world becomes more and more connected, it is hopeful to find more – and more accurate – representation of what our global population really looks like. Here are some other recent films, TV shows and Broadway performances with impactful depiction.

1. Troy Kotsur is a deaf actor and the star of the Oscar-winning feature film CODA.
2. RJ Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was three years old, as was his character on the hit TV show Breaking Bad.
3. Daryl Mitchell, a black actor, was paralyzed in 2001 from a motorcycle accident and portrays a disabled survivor in the TV show Fear the Walking Dead.
4. Ali Stroker made history as the first actor in a wheelchair to be nominated and win a Tony Award for her role in Broadway’s Oklahoma.
5. Tobias Forrest is a paralyzed actor and the star of the feature film Daruma.

Jon M. Chu, director of Wicked, offered advice for other productions seeking to incorporate authentic representation: “You’re going to spend more money and time on casting and dig harder around the world to find the right people, because not everybody’s represented, and they don’t know these roles exist and yet are so talented,” he said. “On set, you have to think about things that you don’t usually think about, ask questions and design accordingly. And you’re probably going to make mistakes, because there are things you just don’t know yet. It just takes you making it a priority to make it happen.”

Hooray for Hollywood!

Aaron Baker