When she was cast in Wicked, Bode made history as the first disabled actor to play Nessarose; the character is a wheelchair user, but since the stage version premiered in 2003, only non-disabled actors had played the role. Bode is calling on casting directors to follow Wicked director Jon M Chu’s lead to use disabled actors for disabled roles, and also to cast disabled actors in other roles where the character’s physical ability is not specified.
So, we will soon see an actor with one leg playing Ethan Hunt in 'Mission Impossible', or a blind 007 in the James Bond reboot, will we?
Bode says her experience on the set of Wicked was overwhelmingly positive thanks to the presence of a disability coordinator, Chantelle Nassari, also a wheelchair user, who was tasked with ensuring accessibility on set.
With all these 'co-ordinators' Hollywood requires, it's no wonder the roll of credits is often longer thsn the film...
However, after the release of the first Wicked film in November 2024, Bode was targeted on social media. Bode responded on TikTok saying : “Not liking Nessa is OK, it’s totally fine because she’s fictional!” : She added: “Aggressive comments and jokes about Nessa’s disability itself is deeply uncomfortable because disability is not fictional, at the end of the day ... It’s not edgy, it’s not funny.”
Bode says she is preparing herself for similar backlash after the release of Wicked: For Good. “Unfortunately, I kind of do expect that [again].” Bode says she hopes that audiences will recognise the character’s motives, her longing for independence, and her desire to be loved. “I understand her deeply, and I wish other people also could see those nuances as well.”
But she's fictional, and so are those aspects, Bode!
As an indication of progress, Bode points to a key change that the film version of Wicked made to a scene in the stage musical. In the original, Elphaba casts a magic spell on her sister’s ruby slippers, enabling Nessarose to stand up from her wheelchair and walk; the scene has been widely criticised for promoting the ableist narrative that disabled people need to be fixed. In Wicked: For Good, the scene underwent a minor change: instead of being able to walk again, Nessa’s shoes give her the ability to float, a feeling she has been wanting to relive since she fell in love in the previous film.
Well, they didn't have much choice (except to employ unconvincing CGI), did they, having cast an actress genuinely unable to walk, they'd rather painted themselves into a corner.
She adds: “Disabled characters deserve to be complex and deserve to be not just one thing. It is this weird cycle of disability being portrayed as bad or society sees disability as bad, therefore it’s projected on to disabled people.”
The usual incoherence - if they aren't supposed to be 'just one thing' why the need to shoehorn them into more films?
Despite such prizes, unawareness about disability persists in the industry. “I do my best to hold a lot of empathy for those that do get it wrong,” says Bode, “We just don’t have any education surrounding disability or the type of language that is appropriate or that we should use.”
'Appropriate language'? Fuck off!
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