Actor Adam Pearson, starring in the upcoming movie “A Different Man,” spoke with the publication Variety Jan. 21 about the tropes and stereotypes that disabled actors are often categorized in.

“There’s either the villain — that because I have a disfigurement, I want to kill Batman or James Bond. Then there’s the victim — the ‘woe is me,’ small violin … And then there’s the hero — that because I have a disfigurement but do regular dude stuff, whatever regular dude stuff is, I’m somehow braver than the average guy,” Pearson said.

Pearson is just one example of the disabled creatives in the entertainment industry that have been categorized or even ignored.

The #OscarsSoWhite campaign, for instance, was started by journalist April Reign in 2015. It brought a spotlight to more than just the lack of diversity in the Oscars and other entertainment award categories. It showed that those in the disabled community were still waiting on their recognition in entertainment as well.

“We are always at the back of the line. When they think of diversity and inclusion, they rarely include the people in every community who are least considered … If we want this industry to ever be equally accessible to this community, we need to open minds, and let them see the value our diverse life experience brings to the table,” actress and producer Eileen Grubba said.

Harmful depictions of those with disabilities in Hollywood go back as far as 1897 with the movie “The False Cripple” by the Lumière brothers. In the film, a vagrant person pretends to have a disability in order to earn money, but is eventually spooked by the cops and runs off.

Even more recent films such as 1989′s “Born on the Fourth of July” and the 2016 movie “Me Before You” have also not positively represented the disabled community and even used actors with no disabilities. However, actors such as actress and filmmaker Diana Elizabeth Jordan are working to provide the authentic portrayals needed in Hollywood.

“I’ve known ever since I was a little girl that’s what I wanted to do. I always had this image of myself on a swing in my backyard and I always called it “Dreaming Big On A Swing.” I named my production company after that,” Jordan said.

For actress and executive director of Access Acting Academy, Marilee Talkington, acting found her in undergrad.

“In my last semester of undergrad, I was actually pursuing a psychology and math degree, which I ended up graduating with a psychology degree with a minor in mathematics. I needed to feel some credits and I couldn’t get into any other class. So I took an acting class and that changed the course of my life,” Talkington said.

While this isn’t a comprehensive list, disabled actors and supporters in the entertainment industry state this is where allyship can start.

How to be a decent ally #1 – Challenge inaccessibility on set

When it comes to treatment on set, disabled actors can face struggles including “inadequate accommodations, inaccessible work sites, stigma, and being limited to disability specific roles,” a 2022 thematic analysis published in the Canadian Journal of Disabilities Studies found.

Jordan says that there needs to be a broader definition of what “accommodations” truly are when on set.

“It can be anything from someone needing wheelchair access or sensitivities that need to be accommodated. I remember doing a film where the costume designer brought heels. For me, walking in heels is very challenging … Nothing in disability is a monolith,” Jordan said, stating that more of the beauty of these actors can come out when their accessibilities and sensitivities are taken into account.

Lauren Appelbaum, the Vice President of Communications of the disability-led nonprofit RespectAbility, believes that some people in the entertainment industry believe that creating a more accessible set can be expensive or too much work.

Yet, “in many cases, when accessibility is thought about from the beginning, it does not cost the production anymore. And, when ramps are built instead of stairs, for example, that also helps camera operators, craft services, wardrobe, and more, since it is easier to move items,” Appelbaum said.

Organizations such as Raindance have put together guides for filmmakers to start making their sets more accessible to all involved.

How to be a decent ally #2 – Advocate for more disabled folks in leadership

According to Grubba, a lack of disabled representation in leadership makes it even harder for disabled creatives to break into the industry.

“The gatekeepers are afraid to bring them forward, for the most part. Some do try, but the resistance usually deters them. I experienced that myself in the years I worked in casting to pay my medical bills. The response was usually a swift “No. We can’t do that.” We need more people like me in those rooms saying “Why Not,” Grubba said.

Talkington in their own work found that the lack of understanding for this representation could be due to their belief systems.

“By evolving in terms of seeing disabled folks as human, as capable as contributors, they’re also opening up parts of themselves. I believe that if you think this about other people, that’s actually how you think about yourself. In some capacity, something inside of you needs to feel powerful and needs to feel hierarchical,” Talkington said.

Individuals such as entrepreneur and disability rights activist Keely Cat-Wells in 2021 have written calls to action about adding disability leadership like a disability officer. However, there is still additional support that is needed.

How to be a decent ally #3 – Support organizations leading the fight

There are about 43 million people with disabilities in the United States, according to a July 2023 study by the Pew Research Center. Yet, a 2022 GLAAD report found that only 2.8% of series regular characters on primetime broadcast television had disabilities on the show, with the majority of these characters being played by able-bodied people.

“It has never made sense to me that disabled characters in our shows and movies are played by people who have no disability. You can’t give what you don’t have, not optimally anyway,” Musab Al-Smadi, deaf creator of the MuseAI app, said in a 2022 interview with Forbes.

In film, only 1.9% of all speaking characters in the top films of 2022 had a disability, according to a 2023 study from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

Appelbaum helped put together RespectAbility’s Entertainment Lab starting in 2019 in order to help put disabled creatives in a position to be recognized for their hard work and achievements.

“I am most proud of creating the RespectAbility Entertainment Lab in 2019. Too many executives told me that they would be happy to hire a disabled writer, director, etc., but that they believed no qualified individuals existed. We now have more than 150 alumni, many of whom have worked in writers’ rooms and for studios, proving those executives wrong,” Appelbaum said.

The Lab works to create a community for the disabled creatives involved as well as connecting them to the studio executives and decision makers who can provide mentorship to help get them employed.

“No one should have an excuse that they could not find a disabled writer, director, producer, or any other creative professional. Lab alumni currently are working at Netflix, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, and more,” Appelbaum said.

Along with promoting the organization, people are able to donate online towards the cause. Other organizations supporting disabled creatives in entertainment include the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment, Recording and Music Artists with Disabilities and Exceptional Minds.

Progress in disability activism and what’s next

There has been slow but forward progress towards positive disabled representation in Hollywood. The California Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities established the Media Access Office to be a liaison between the disabled community and the entertainment industry in 1980. Ten years later, the American with Disabilities Act was passed, which prohibits discrimination based on disability.

In 2016, disability activists and groups like “Not Dead Yet” worked together to have the film “Me Before You” pulled from 1,000 screens after the first three weeks and another 1,000 the following weekend.

According to “Seinfeld” actor Danny Woodburn in a 2022 interview with Forbes, the future of disability activism in entertainment depends on young voices being heard.

“So often, they are the loudest and proudest and now in the roaring ‘20s, the ones with the most attention. And I truly attribute the rapidity of change since 2016 to many of those voices,” Woodburn said.

The attitudes towards disabled creatives have impacted the progress they are able to make in the entertainment industry, Grubba said. It’s time from her perspective to start working on changing these points of view in order for bigger change to occur.

“They are leaving out their own game changers, WORLD changers, those most able to adapt, adjust and overcome. People [who are] used to adversity, so they are usually master problem solvers, with different perspectives, and incredible endurance. When we exclude them, we leave out some of the most courageous, creative, brilliant, resilient people on the planet,” Grubba said.