"While the entertainment industry has been at pains to address issues of diversity in race, gender and sexuality, disability remains shockingly underrepresented. It's not just that disabled actors are discounted for many roles. As actors and activists have pointed out, blacking up might have become taboo, but cripping up is still a shoo-in for awards. In almost 100 years, only three disabled actors have won an Oscar, compared to 25 able-bodied actors who have won for playing disabled characters."
"Yet since the hit musical opened in 2003, only able-bodied actors had played the part of Nessarose, Elphaba's disabled sister. Last year, Marissa Bode became the first wheelchair-using actor to take the role, in part one of the film adaptation. The child Nessa is also played by a wheelchair user. The movies give the character greater agency and complexity, amending a scene that suggested she needs to be fixed."
Disability remains severely underrepresented in entertainment despite attention to other diversity issues. Disabled actors are often excluded, while able-bodied performers frequently win awards for playing disabled characters. The Wicked: For Good films mark progress by casting wheelchair-using performers as Nessarose, granting the character greater agency and amending problematic scenes. Audience responses can still be harmful, and a study found only 21% of disabled characters on US TV between 2016 and 2023 were played by disabled actors. Structural barriers persist: stories, creators, and studios need change, and physical inaccessibility and logistical costs routinely block full inclusion.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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