Ninety-five per cent of roles featuring people with disability are played by able-bodied actors.
Huh?
Yep. Right now, they’re the stats.
But why?
Because, like many other minorities, such as people of colour, LBGTQI, older people, etc., people with disability have been overlooked in the media. Sometimes more than overlooked, they’re downright ignored, because, strangely, people with disability are perceived to be too hard to work with.
But feature film and social movement Costume Change for Social Change is starting to, well, change this.
The team from Tiger Cub Media have shown themselves to be skilled, committed and thoughtful, and the film is beautifully shot. If Costume Change for Social Change (CC4SC) is anything to go by, their planned feature film will be pretty funny.
One of the actors in CC4SC says, ‘I really really really want to take over from Tom Cruise, because if you want to see an impossible mission, you should watch me put my shoes on in the morning!’ Anyone who can deliver that line direct to camera with a smirk and a twinkle in his eye has got my vote for a Logie.
Authentic casting is all they’re asking. But actors with a disability playing characters with a disability is just the start. We’ll know we’ve made it when actors with disability are cast into mainstream roles and they just happen to be in a wheelchair, are visually impaired or are living with Downs Syndrome.