Octavia Spencer Joins Ruderman Foundation, Calls for Authentic Casting of People With Disabilities

“I am joining with the Ruderman Family Foundation to call on the entertainment industry to increase casting of people with disabilities,” Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer said July 27.

In a message that coincides with this month’s 30th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), she joins the Ruderman Family Foundation in making their message clear that people who have disabilities should have roles on and off the screen.

Appearing in a newly released public service announcement, Spencer recounts Hollywood’s long history of inauthentic representation and exclusion of marginalized populations — from men playing female characters until 1660; to white actors playing Black, Asian and Native American characters; to LGBTQ stories and characters being virtually absent in film and television until the past two decades.

“All of these communities of people had to endure not only their stories being told inauthentically, but also seeing themselves portrayed inauthentically,” Spencer said in a message filmed for the Ruderman Family Foundation. “Nothing can replace lived experience and authentic representation. That’s why it’s imperative that we cast the appropriate actor for the appropriate role, and that means people with disabilities as well. Casting able-bodied actors in roles for characters with disabilities is offensive, unjust, and deprives an entire community of people from opportunities.”

In December, the Ruderman Family Foundation circulated an open letter calling on studio, production and network executives to pledge to create more opportunities for people who have disabilities and to make casting for inclusive. 

Oscar-winners George Clooney and Joaquin Phoenix, Oscar nominees Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Mark Ruffalo and Glenn Close, Golden Globe nominee Eva Longoria and Oscar-winning director Peter Farrelly and his brother, acclaimed filmmaker Bobby Farrelly, were among those who signed the letter. In March, the Farrelly brothers were honored with the sixth Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion for their efforts to make Hollywood more inclusive. 

In the past, the foundation has created partnerships with the Sundance Film Festival, CBS and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Ruderman Foundation’s 2019 White Paper report revealed that half of U.S. households want accurate portrayals of characters with disabilities despite only 22% of characters with disabilities being authentically portrayed on television.

“As an Oscar-winning actor, Octavia Spencer embodies Hollywood’s vast potential to serve as a powerful catalyst for positive social change if studio, production and network executives commit to more inclusive and authentic representation,” Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said in a statement. “We are gratified that Ms. Spencer has joined our call and we look forward to have other actors and actresses, filmmakers, producers and studios to continue to create unprecedented momentum that brings about greater casting of people with disabilities.”