Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer calls for a more authentic screen representation of people with disabilities.
“Nothing can replace lived experience and authentic representation,” Spencer said in a recent video for the Ruderman Family Foundation, a disability advocacy organization. “That’s why it is imperative that we hire the right actor for the right role, and that also means people with disabilities.”
“Throwing actors suitable for characters with disabilities is offensive, unfair and deprives an entire community of people of opportunities,” Spencer continued.
Spencer’s PSA coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, and state and local government services. The “Hidden Figures” actress concluded the PSA by challenging Hollywood to increase the cast of people with disabilities.
“There is no reason for us to continue repeating the same mistakes of the past,” Spencer said.
Although the ADA has been instrumental in increasing opportunities for the 61 million people with some form of disability in the U.S., many industries, including Hollywood, still lag behind when it comes to providing people with disabilities the same access as those without them.
Fewer than 3 percent of the characters in the top 100 highest-earning movies of 2016 had disabilities, according to a report by the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. And a 2018 report from the Ruderman Foundation shows that portraying disability on television is as sad as it is on film, as only 12 percent of all disabled characters on television during that season were played by actors. disabled.
Furthermore, when people with disabilities are included in film and television, they are often reduced to objects of pity and / or inspiration.
“If we don’t allow disabled actors to play disabled people, what does society trust us to do?” Wrote cultural writer Esme Mazzeo for Rooted for Rights, a digital platform that seeks to challenge misleading narratives about disability. “Representation is no longer enough. We need to start demanding authentic representation in all forms of entertainment.”
Spencer has talked about her experiences with dyslexia and how she learned she was more of an auditory than a visual learner in past interviews.
“I was a dyslexic child and I am a dyslexic adult; That does not mean you are not smart. It just means your brain works differently, “Spencer told WENN.” Actually, I was tested for the gifted program at my school because I had a greater auditory than visual inclination. “
In an open letter last December, the Ruderman Family Foundation urged studio and network executives to audition and cast actors with disabilities. Among those who signed the letter were George Clooney, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryan Cranston, Eva Longoria, and Bobby Farrelly.
“As an Oscar-winning actor, Octavia Spencer embodies Hollywood’s vast potential to serve as a powerful catalyst for positive social change if studio, production and network executives commit to more inclusive and authentic representation,” Jay Ruderman, President from the Ruderman Family Foundation, he wrote in a statement. “We are pleased that Spencer has joined our call, and we look forward to partnering with other actors and actresses, filmmakers, producers and studios to continue to create an unprecedented push to generate a greater cast of people with disabilities.”
CBS recently signed a pledge created by the Ruderman Family Foundation, agreeing to audition actors with disabilities for each upcoming production, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The BBC was also committed to advancing the representation of disability both on screen and behind the scenes. The network has announced a series of shows featuring artists with disabilities and has pledged to increase the number of disabled people in its workforce to 12 percent from 10.4 percent by 2022, according to BBC News.
