Here at Bascule Entertainment, we often talk about authentic representation of disability, challenging stereotypes, and creating a more inclusive entertainment landscape.
In this blog, we wanted to present three recent examples of films that we believe, tackle the theme of disability excellently, using inclusive approaches and authenticity in their casting, whilst avoiding stereotypes and tropes.
CODA
As well as winning three Academy Awards, (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor), CODA received great praise for its authentic portrayal and dedication to inclusivity on set.
When Sian Heder took on the job of directing the film, she immediately started taking lessons in ASL- (American Sign Language)- which would prove to be instrumental in her role, given that sign language accounts for an impressive 40% of the script.
Heder was clear from the offset that she wanted to cast deaf actors for the roles of deaf characters, and strongly stood by this throughout the casting stage. After the script was drafted, Heder appointed Alexandria Wailes, as a consultant on the film. Wailes is a deaf actor who had previously worked as an ASL consultant on productions including “A Quiet Place” and ABC’s “Quantico.”
Marlee Matlin was the first deaf actor cast in the film, who also collaborated with Heder, playing a part in advising and consulting behind the scenes. After the studio suggested Marlee’s husband be played by a famous hearing actor, she told USA Today how she stood her ground:
"I put my foot down and said, 'If you do, I'm just out, that's it. I can't see any actor putting on the costume of being deaf. We are not costumes to put on, not any longer."
As well as making a stand to cast authentically, Heder sought the expertise of Anne Tomasetti, another deaf actor who would act as a consultant and as the ASL master on set.
Hours were spent translating the script into ASL, which given that it’s not a written language, was quite a challenge. ASL interpretations were fed back to Heder, who would consider the translation. She then altered the script working with Wailes, to create ASL dialogue that visually conveyed the emotions she was trying to evoke. If the ASL didn’t look right, they rewrote the script so that the signs were more visually striking.
ASL also became quite a prominent language on set. Actress Emilia Jones (who plays the only hearing family member in the film), spent nine months learning ASL prior to filming. After finishing filming, Heder has always said that she would happily share everything she learned during the filming process, to ensure other filmmakers aren’t intimidated or put off by the process. In fact, after the experience of CODA, she claims that ASL is the ideal language for working on set.
Ezra
Ezra is a story that follows the journey of a child with autism, (played by William A Fitzgerald), who embarks on a road trip with his father, Max (played by Bobby Cavendale). The film, (released June 2024), has already received high acclaim for its portrayal of autism. Written by Tony Spiridakis, the film is largely based on the personal experiences of the writer, as the parent of a child with autism.
After taking on the project, Director Tony Goldwyn was immediately certain, that it was essential that the main character of Ezra was played by an autistic actor.
Experience and consultation of neurodiversity was further compounded with associate producer, Alex Plank’s input, as Plank is also autistic.
The aim was for the film to be as authentic as possible, and it was understood that a big part of achieving that is by creating a set that was fully accessible for all neurodivergent crew and actors.
To ensure that autism was understood by all, Alex Plank led awareness sessions for everyone working on the film, which took place on-set. This education factored into the way the set was run and considered issues such as the location of trailers and their proximity to excessive noise, and doing as much as possible to mitigate unpredictable schedules.
The education of crew and talent exemplifies how awareness and education can influence the process of filmmaking to ensure inclusivity for everyone working on the project.
In an interview, Director, Tony Goldwyn said, “It was super important that we’d be authentic and make a film that the autistic community would watch, and feel was really authentically representative to their experience. We wanted to involve the autistic community in making this film so we brought into the community different autism organisations and experts in the field, that really helped us.”
Peanut Butter Falcon
The Peanut Butter Falcon follows the main character, Zak (played by Zack Gottsagen), on his journey as a young man with Down syndrome, who runs away from the nursing home he is wrongly confined to, to follow his dreams and become a pro wrestler.
The idea for the film actually came from an incident when the Directors (Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson) met Zak. After training to be an actor for most of his life, Zak was at a camp for actors with disabilities. The Directors were so impressed with him, they discussed helping him to land the big role he was looking for.
“Zack expressed he really wanted to be an actor in movies, and he came to a couple auditions with me for commercials and we talked about the possibility of someone with Down syndrome starring in a film,” (Nilson explained to Deadline). After a difficult moment of sincerity, Nilson honestly explained to Gottsagen that: “statistically speaking, it’s probably not going to happen.”
“It wasn’t because he wasn’t talented — it’s the marketplace,” Nilson continued. “I don’t think people finance movies like that…but then Zack had an amazing, sort of bullish but brilliant idea. He asked, ‘You guys could make me a movie. Why don’t you just write it?'”
The directors were so impressed at Zak’s clever way of putting them on the spot- they agreed.
“We wanted to create the most authentic experience we could,” Nilson told Variety. “And the film’s wrestling is an allegory for acting, because there aren’t many opportunities for people with [Down syndrome] to act, nor is there that opportunity in pro wrestling.”
If you are someone with a disability and are an actor, filmmaker, writer, or work in any other area of the entertainment industry, and you are interested in working with Bascule Entertainment, drop us a line on contact@basculeentertainment.com
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