I have to say I don’t agree at all with what Bryan Cranston says in this article. The American actor has defended his casting as a disabled person in his new TV show, The Upside. While of course I’m always happy to see people with disabilities being represented on television, I think that, where at all possible, they should be played by an actual disabled person. It’s no longer acceptable for white people to ‘black up’ to play black people, so why is is still okay for able bodied actors to ‘crip up’, and indeed expect to get plaudits for it? While Cranston points out, “If I, as a straight, older person, and I’m wealthy, I’m very fortunate, does that mean I can’t play a person who is not wealthy, does that mean I can’t play a homosexual?” I just think there are too few acting roles for people with disabilities already, without what there is being taken up by people with no real experience of disability.
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The Ill-Informed Ramblings of a Cripple 
Double standards. Neither Elijah Wood or Sean Astin are hobbits, but its okay for them to hobbit up. I’m sure there are fine hobbit actors out there. It should also be pointed out that Sir Christopher Lee and Sir Ian Mckellan are not wizards.
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Are you sure they aren’t wizards, steve? okok, fair point. Mind you, at the time I think there were objections from the Reduced Stature community about people with normal growth being cast as Hobbits.
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I guess you are jesting but I believe the twittersphere has been full of poeple saying ludicrous things like “should Paddington have been played by a bear then?” The rather glaring difference is that there are no bears losing acting jobs as a result of Ben Whishaw doing the voice over but there sure as hell will be disabled actors losing out to able bodied ones cripping up all the time…
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