‘It’s important to tell our stories’: How the Wicked films help represent people with disabilities on screen | film

DDisabled actress Marissa Pudi, who plays the prominent role of Nessarose Throop in the hit musical Wicked and its upcoming sequel Wicked: For Good, has called for improved representation of disabled performers in the entertainment industry – specifically an end to what activists call “paralysis” – that leads to non-disabled actors being cast in roles of disabled characters.

“I really hope that my selection sets a precedent,” Boddy says, adding, “It’s just navigating a world and a system in which we haven’t been recognized as much as we should.” A recent study by the Rudderman Family Foundation found that only 21% of characters with disabilities on American television between 2016 and 2023 were played by disabled actors.

When she was cast in Wicked, Bode made history as the first disabled actress to play Nessarose; The character is a wheelchair user, but since the theatrical version premiered in 2003, only non-disabled actors have played the role. Bode calls on casting directors to follow Wicked director Jon M Chu’s approach of using disabled actors for disabled roles, and also to cast disabled actors in other roles where the character’s physical ability has not been specified.

Boddy says her experience on the set of Wicked was extremely positive thanks to the presence of disability coordinator Chantelle Nasari, also a wheelchair user, who was tasked with ensuring accessibility on set. “It was one less thing I had to worry about, and I could just come in and do the job.” Earlier in her career, Boddy says barriers of physical accessibility and an unwillingness to modify nearly kept her from performing on stage. “I’ve faced a lot of general inaccessibility throughout my life,” she says.

However, after the first Wicked movie was released in November 2024, Bode was targeted on social media. Bode responded on TikTok, saying: “It’s okay to not like Nessa, it’s totally okay because she’s fictional!” She added: “The aggressive comments and jokes about Nessa’s disability in and of themselves are very uncomfortable because the disability is not imaginary, in the end. It is not edgy, and it is not funny.”

Bode says she’s bracing for similar backlash following the release of Wicked: For Good. “Unfortunately, I kind of expect it [again]Boddy says she hopes the audience will identify with the character’s motivations, her longing for independence, and her desire to be loved. “I understand her deeply, and I hope others can see those nuances as well.”

As evidence of progress, Bode points to the major change the film version of Wicked made to a scene in the musical. In the original version, Elphaba cast a magic spell on her sister’s ruby ​​slippers, enabling Nessarose to stand up from her wheelchair and walk; The scene was widely criticized for promoting a disability narrative that people with disabilities need to be reformed.

In Wicked: For Good, the scene underwent a slight change: instead of being able to walk again, Nessa’s shoes gave her the ability to float, a feeling she had wanted to experience again ever since she fell in love in the previous film. “I feel like Nyssa might be a little more one-dimensional in the theatrical version,” says Boddy. “Which [change] “It’s something I really appreciate…and I think it adds more humanity to Nyssa.”

She adds, “Characters with disabilities deserve to be complex, and they don’t deserve to be just one thing. It’s this weird cycle of disability being portrayed as bad or society seeing disability as bad, and so it’s projected onto people with disabilities.”

Earlier this month, Bud received the Christopher Reeve Award for Acting at the 2025 Media Access Awards, a celebration of the representation of people with disabilities in media. This honor aims to support up-and-coming actors with disabilities. Despite these accolades, there is still a lack of awareness of disability in the industry. “I do my best to show a lot of compassion to those who get it wrong,” Boddy says. “We don’t have any disability education or what kind of language is appropriate or should be used.”

To combat this, Boddy suggests that people should seek out more disability-related information. She credits prominent disabled figures and content creators like Crutches and Spice, Ariana Rose Phillip, and Aubrey Smalls with inspiring her to use her voice and “be more unapologetic about it.”

In the future, Buddy wants to see more people with disabilities creating their own artwork. “I think it’s important to tell our own stories more often,” says Buddy, encouraging producers to hire actors, writers and crew with disabilities. “There’s a great community there.”