Mom: Performers with disabilities are victims of ‘blacking-up’
November 17th, 2009From the [UK] Guardian:
Nicola Clark, the mother of a British actress with Asperger’s syndrome, has launched a campaign to stop non-disabled actors from portraying characters with disabilities. Her daughter Lizzy, 14, plays a character with Asperger’s in a highly praised BBC television film.
… Nicola Clark has said that employing actors who are not mentally disabled to play characters with neurological impairments should stop. It is the “blacking-up of the 21st century”, she said. “We need to break down these barriers. They’re unacceptable and indefensible in a modern-day society, especially when there are so many good, disabled actors who are both ready, eager and able to take on these parts.”
The BBC has begun efforts to raise the profile of performers with disabilities, and next week will launch a nationwide talent search. The network’s popular EastEnders series recently introduced David Proud, an actor with spina bifida who uses a wheelchair in real life.
On the UK’s Channel 4, a video interview with Nicola Clark. An excerpt :
Q: Can you explain, as a viewer, what I’m going to get from watching Lizzy play somebody with Asperger’s that I won’t get from an ordinary actor?
A: Authenticity … authenticity and importing the story and the characterization with the truth, I think.
(Photo of Nicola Clark from Channel 4 video)
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November 20th, 2009 at 11:55 am
I made the same point about blacking up over a year ago follwing the casting of a non disabled actor to play the role of Spencer, a young man with a learning disabilty, in Hollyoaks. That happened in spite of Hollyoaks auditioning a number of actors with a learning disability for the role. (some of who had received formal training as actors). The reponse to that appalling situation from the so called campaigning organisations was a deafening silence! So well done to Nicola. Her campaign deserves our full support.