Casting able-bodied Elephant Man ‘like a white actor blacking up’
THE BBC has been accused of “ableism” in a row over the casting of its two-part drama The Elephant Man.
Disabled charities said they were disappointed to learn that Charlie Heaton, 24, who appeared in the Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things, would play Joseph Merrick.
The drama is based on the true story of Merrick, who developed physical deformities from the age of five. The decision to cast an able-bodied actor in the lead role was criticised by Phil Talbot, Scope’s head of communications, who said: “It’s disappointing a disabled actor has not been cast in the remake of The Elephant Man, as it’s one of the most recognisable films to portray a disabled character. This is a missed opportunity. Sadly, a lack of diversity in the industry is nothing new.”
Louise Dyson, of the disabled actors’ agency VISABLE, said it was the equivalent of white people “blacking up”. She said: “I am not exaggerating. It is unac- ceptable not to even try. Nobody is suggesting they should compromise in the quality of casting but they [disabled actors] should at least be given a chance.”
She added: “If actors with disabilities are not given the chance to even try for a role which is disability specific, what hope is there of any work at all, when they are still so rarely being cast in non disabled roles?” Lisa Hammond, the Eastenders actress, who has a restricted growth condition and uses a wheelchair, has previously said that disabled actors were not being “allowed to tell our own stories”.
Merrick was rescued from a “human oddities show” by Dr Frederick Treves, who brought him to London Hospital where he lived until his death in 1890 at the age of 27.
It had been thought that he was a sufferer of neurofibromatosis type one (NF1), a relatively common condition, but in 1986 scientists established he had Proteus syndrome, a condition with similar symptoms that affects fewer than one in a million people. British actors with NF1 include Adam Pearson, 33, who appeared alongside Scarlett Johansson in the 2014 film Under the Skin. He said: “To get a non-disabled actor to tell the story of a historical disabled figure is outrageous. It is the only minority where this would be acceptable. It is ‘crippling up’. If it was someone blacking up there would be uproar.”
A spokesman for the show said: “We are currently in the process of casting disabled actors in key roles. Charlie Heaton will portray [Merrick’s] journey from a young man to his death at the age of 27.”