Bryan Cranston - Wheelchair Controversy

[Deskdiary]

Should disabled character parts only be the preserve of disabled people?

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/bryan-cranston-the-upside-movie-disabled-character-kevin-hart-diversity-controversy-a8716641.html

Surely the point of being an actor is that you take on difficult and challenging parts, isn't it?

If disabled characters should only be portrayed by disabled actors, then presumably the specific disability should only go to actors with that disability - so in this particular case paraplegia. How many paraplegic actors are there? An actor without an arm is disabled, does that make him more qualified than Bryan Cranston to play the role?

[andy-hughes]

mushroom - // //it is desireable to have an actor with the appropriate disability to play a role,//

if that were to be rigidly enforced, how would the Stephen Hawking biopic film had been made (without progressively disabling the actor)? //

I didn't suggest it should be 'rigidly enforced' - that was the entire point of using the term 'desirable' - because there is no hard and fast rule.

In the case of Stephen Hawking, it is obviously impractical to cast a disabled actor in the role, which is why an able-bodied actor was cast.

[Old_Geezer]

What's all this nonsense about Shakespeare ?

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."