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Statements & Press Releases
Statements & Press Releases
Open Letter to the Entertainment Industry
January 27, 2020
Changing the Landscape in Casting People with Disabilities
Dear studio, production, and network executives:
The entertainment industry has made strides in prioritizing diversity. At the 2019 Academy Awards, diversity and related topics such as race, immigration, and sexual orientation were explicitly mentioned on stage 38 times. We applaud the industry for elevating these issues to the world’s largest and most glamorous stage.
But in the history of the Academy Awards, among the 61 Oscar nominees and 27 winners playing characters with a disability, only two were authentically portrayed by an actor with disability.
Therefore, we must ask: Why is disability excluded from the diversity conversation? Twenty-percent of the world’s population has some type of visible or invisible disability, making this community the largest minority in the world. Yet people with disabilities are systematically excluded from opportunities for social and economic mobility.
Now is the time to change the conversation. Hollywood can play a significant role in driving socioeconomic progress for people with disabilities. The entertainment industry must embrace disability as a key facet of diversity and can help normalize disability, erasing the stigma that surrounds it.
While many beloved characters have a disability, opportunities for actors with disabilities are virtually non-existent. In fact, research shows that 95 percent of top show characters with disabilities on TV are played by actors without disabilities. Yet it is still the norm for able-bodied actors to play characters with disabilities.
We call on the entertainment industry to increase opportunities for performers with disabilities by taking the following steps:
- Join the Ruderman Family Foundation Pledge to audition actors with disabilities.
- Cast qualified performers with disabilities, thereby improving their visibility and expanding overall talent pools.
From greater accessibility and opportunity, talented and high-profile actors with disabilities will emerge. Infusing the industry with this largely untapped source of talent promises to boost box office and network revenues while opening the market to an even broader audience, as evidenced by all previous diversity-oriented initiatives in entertainment.
Hollywood recognizes that it can’t ignore diversity, but still ignores that disability is part of that diversity.
The recommended steps listed above will change the landscape of casting people with disabilities to one of equality and support the industry’s belief that it is truly on the side of diversity. Only then will the entertainment industry finally live up to its vast potential for leadership in diversity, inclusion, social justice, and civil rights.
If you’d like to sign our open letter, click here
Jason Alexander
Actor, singer, writer, director
Josef Altin
Actor
Robert James Ashe
Emmy-nominated TV & film editor
Shani Atias
Actress, model, humanitarian
Tim Bagley
Award-winning actor, producer, comedian
Carol Barbee
Actress, screenwriter, producer
Robby Benson
Actor, director
Jane Berlinger
Talent manager
Sara Bolder
Producer
Deborah Calla
Writer, producer, CEO of Media Access Awards
Keely Cat-Wells
Producer, actress, CEO
Maleni Chaitoo
Actress, producer, director, disability advocate
Bill Chott
Actor
George Clooney
Actor
Glenn Close
Golden Globe, Emmy, and Tony-award winning actor, singer, producer
Michael D. Coffey
Screenwriter, producer
Len Collin
Screenwriter, actor, disability advocate
John P. Conollly
Actor, Former President of AFTRA, Former CEO of Actors’ Equity,
Chris Cooper
Oscar and Golden Globe Award-winning actor
Marianne Leone Cooper
Acclaimed author, actor, screenwriter
Jennifer Court
Producer
Bryan Cranston
Golden Globe, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actor, director
Brian H. Currie
Academy Award-winning writer, actor
Cherie Currie
Actress, musician, producer
Annabel Norwell Davis
Actress, model
Danny DeVito
Golden Globe and Emmy Award-Winning actor, producer, director, screenwriter
Vincent D’Onofrio
Award-winning actor, producer, director, singer
Ritchi Edwards
Award-winning actor
Nicole Evans
Actress, writer, disability advocate
Bobby Farrelly
Director, producer, writer
Peter Farrelly
Academy Award-winning director, producer, writer
Fern Field
Award-winning producer
Paul Ford
Actor, disability advocate
Micah Fowler
Actor, disability advocate
Mat Fraser
Actor, writer
Mac Gabriel
Actor
Tony Gapastione
Filmmaker
Rodrigo Garcia
Director, screenwriter
Willie Garson
Actor
Cindy Farrelly Gesner
Entertainment attorney
Jason George
Actor, model, Chair SAG-AFTRA’s Diversity Advisory Committee
Angel Giuffria
Actress, model, public speaker, disability advocate
Ewan Gotfryd
Emmy Award-winning director, producer
Zack Gottsagen
Actor, dancer, activist
Sammi Haney
Actress, disability advocate
Shane Hartline
Actor, comedian
Abigail Hawk
Actor, writer, director, singer
Mark Jeffrey Hayes
Actor
Cheryl Hines
Actress, producer, director
Marc Howard
Voice actor
Kevin M. Iannucci
Actor
Geri Jewell
Award-winning actress, comedian, disability advocate
CJ Jones
Actor, disability advocate
Orlando Jones
Actor, comedian, writer
Luke Kidd
Actor
Lars Kolme
Disability advocate
John Lawson
Actor, disability advocate
Norman Lear
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning TV producer
Jim LeBrecht
Director, Producer
Eva Longoria
Actress, producer, director, activist, businesswoman
Krishnendu Majumdar
Producer
Ruth Madeley
Actress, disability advocate
Camryn Manheim
Golden Globe Award-winning actress, disability advocate
Marlee Matlin
Academy Award-winning actress, disability advocate
Glen Mazzara
Producer, writer
Matthew McClain
Actor, veteran, disability advocate
Jillian Mercado
Actress, model, disability advocate
Rachel Miner
Actress
Daryl “Chill” Mitchell
Actor, disability advocate
RJ Mitte
Award-winning actor, disability advocate
James Moore
Actor, disability advocate
Olivia Munn
Actress, activist
Julie Atlas Muz
Actress, director, choreographer
Janis Nelson
General Counsel, Sundance Institute
Nicole Newnham
Director, prodcuer
Edward Norton
Golden Globe-winning actor, filmmaker, activist
Ryan O’Connell
Award-winning actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer, LGBTQ+ & disability advocate
Pauley Perrette
Actor, writer, singer, civil rights advocate
Joaquin Phoenix
Actor
Jonah Platt
Actor
Emily Prior
Actress, disability advocate, model
James Rath
Director, disability advocate
Mark Ruffalo
Actor, director, activist
June Schneidmond
Actress, disability advocate
Tony Shaloub
Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning actor
Lin Shaye
Actress
Cole Sibus
Actor
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Award-winning actress, singer
Lauren “Lolo” Spencer
Actress, model, disability advocate
Shoshannah Stern
Actress, creator
Ali Stroker
Tony Award-winning actress, disability advocate
Marlee Talkington
Actress, disability advocate
Lorna Tucker
Writer & director
Josh Vadell
Disability advocate
Charles Venn
Actor
Steve Way
Actor, disability advocate
Steven Weber
Actor
Peter Wilderotter
President & CEO, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
Roy Wol
Award-winning producer & editor
Danny Woodburn
Actor, comedian, disability advocate
Kurt Yaeger
Actor, producer, director, model, disability advocate
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