EntertainmentAdam Pearson: Breaking Down Harmful Disability Stereotypes in Hollywood

Adam Pearson: Breaking Down Harmful Disability Stereotypes in Hollywood

“I spoke out about tropes,” Pearson said.

Variety

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Closeup of Adam Pearson on the red carpet

Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images
During a recent sit-down interview with Variety, Adam, along with his costars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, discussed the world premiere of their new A24 film at Sundance. Adam shared his frustration with how actors with disabilities are written into storylines.

The cast of "A Different Man"

Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images
A Different Man is a psychological thriller that tells the story of Edward, a man who undergoes facial reconstructive surgery and later becomes fixated on an actor in a stage play production of Edward’s earlier life.

The cast of "A Different Man" in an interview
Variety / Variety via Getty Images
And for those who don’t know, Adam has neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a rare genetic condition that causes tumors —typically non-cancerous — to grow along your nerve tissue.

Closeup of Adam Pearson
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The British actor and presenter shared his experience with stereotypes actors with disabilities are often subjected to, as well as patterns he hopes Hollywood rids itself of when it comes to representation.

The cast of "A Different Man" in an interview
Variety / Audible
“Normally there are three kinds of roles or tropes or stereotypes, whatever vernacular one wants to use,” Adam told Variety.Variety. “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.”

Closeup of Adam Pearson

Variety / Variety via Getty Images

“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.”

Closeup of Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson

Variety / Variety via Getty Images

He went on to talk about how harmful it is for actors with disabilities to be pigeonholed into these types of storylines.

Adam Pearson

The Hollywood Reporter / The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

“I think it’s lazy writing,” Adam added. “Why are non-disabled people writing about disability without consultation? Because when that happens, the end result you might get it right once.”

Closeup of Adam Pearson

Stuart C. Wilson / Getty Images

“But nine times out of ten, it’s going to be really inauthentic and inaccurate, and serve not only the disabled community accordingly but disabled cinema lovers accordingly.”

Closeup of Adam Pearson

Dave Benett / Dave Benett / WireImage

This is more of a reason why we’ll never get tired of screaming, REPRESENTATION MATTERS! To learn more about Adam, check out the full Variety interview below:





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A Different Man is currently being shown at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. » …

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