On August 13, the DGA Disability Committee’s online meeting featured the panel discussion, Authentic Casting and Disability Representation in Amber Sealey's Out of My Mind.
Sealey's film tells the story of Melody Brooks, a nonverbal wheelchair user with cerebral palsy who is navigating sixth grade with the help of some assistive technology and her devoted allies.
In a conversation moderated by Director Kay Cannon (Cinderella), Sealey and Disability Advocate Lawrence Carter-Long discussed the challenges of finding the right actor for the role of a disabled individual while remaining true to the film and the audience, and the role of a consultant in that process.
Speaking about finding Phoebe-Ray Taylor to play Melody, Sealey said, “I had really wanted to cast as authentically as possible, somebody who was the right age wanted to act that was also nonverbal. That said, Phoebe[-Ray Taylor] was just the best choice in so many ways because she knew what acting was. She had never done it before but she understood, ‘I'm going to be doing this make believe thing. I'm going to be being made scream and made to do things.’ It was really important to me that whoever the child was, they understood what that process was and were consenting to that.”
Sealey also shared a few things she thought were vital for the film. “The thing that I really learned is that one person with a disability's life is just that one's life. It can't speak for every person with a disability. So it was very important to me that we were telling the authentic story of Melody, not speaking for every single person with the disability. She's just like any other 12-year-old girl who wants to have friends, wants to fall in love, wants to do well in school. So, it felt really imperative to me that that we are portraying her as a 12-year-old girl first and foremost and then just happens to have a disability.”
Asked about the job of a consultant, Carter-Long said, “As I see it, it's just kind of to give this 360 degree view. Part of that is like is to talk about if something works, explain why something doesn't work, if something could be better, and, if something needs to go right, outline what is going to happen if you keep it as it is. There are always touchstones and pitfalls and potential landmines and things to kind of look for and I, as a consultant, feel like I have to do intelligence in helping identify all of those things right. Casting is so important out of the gate with the right vibe, the right intention the right feeling. I think it starts with casting and if you get that right then everything else can kind of fall into line.”
In addition to Out of My Mind, Sealey’s directorial credits include the features No Man of God, No Light and No Land Anywhere and A Plus D. She has been a DGA member since 2020.
Carter-Long has been on the frontlines of popular culture and social change since the age of five when he was drafted to be a poster child for a disability-related charity campaign. A lifelong activist, he was also the curator/co-host of groundbreaking festival The Projected Image: A History of Disability on Film on Turner Classic Movies.
About the Committee
The mission of the Disability Committee is to examine a broad range of issues DGA members with disabilities face on sets, with the goal of developing recommendations to address these matters. In 2023, DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter, announced its creation as a provisional committee, whose members would lead work to destigmatize disability as a way to empower other members to feel comfortable with disclosing their disability identity and push the industry towards greater acceptance of Directors and Directorial Team members with disabilities. In 2024, the Committee was designated a permanent committee by the DGA National Board.