Seth (Zack Weinstein) gets his first singing lesson from Rachel (Lea Michele) in Glee episode "Laryngitis".
Due to the conflict with Lost this year, I've been sadly out of the loop on cult hit musical TV show Glee. (Considering how Lost ended, my time would have been better spent watching nerd-sexy young Glee Club singers tackling Journey, Kanye, and Young MC.) Finally having caught up, I did some poking around about the show's stars and found a remarkable guy you just have to know more about.
Though pretty progressive about putting together a multi-cultural cast that also included differently-abled characters, Glee has gotten some flack for casting non-disabled actor Kevin McHale to play wheelchair-bound Artie Abrams. So when it came time to cast another disabled character for the episode "Laryngitis", Glee found an actor who lived the part as well as played it: Zack Weinstein.
"Laryngitis" revolves around Rachel losing her voice and facing tonsillitis surgery that she fears could permanently wreck her singing. When she drowns herself in self-pity, Finn (Cory Monteith) takes her to see his buddy Sean. A former football star, Sean took a hit during the game that made him a quadriplegic. Through two scenes in the Glee episode, Sean helps Rachel see that even if singing is her greatest skill, it's not all of who she is.
Ironically, actor Zack Weinstein doesn't fault Glee for casting a non-disabled person in the role of Artie--he truly feels that the best actor should win. He auditioned for the role of Sean and won the part, which is the way he wants it. In an interview with Wheelchair Pride blogger Gene, Zack said his wish was for disabled actors to be up for a variety of roles, just as non-disabled actors are:
"I think the way that Hollywood can do its best to give people with disabilities a place in this industry, at least as far as acting is concerned, is to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to audition and prove that not only do we fit the role, but we are the perfect person to play the role. One thing that I think would be a real change would be to see a character who has a disability but whose storyline has nothing to do with the disability. When we see characters with disabilities they almost always have storylines having to do with them "dealing with" or "overcoming" their disability. They rarely have any other challenges to face. I would love to get a role where the fact that I have a disability and use a wheelchair has nothing to do whatsoever with what's going on with my character."
When Zack was paralyzed, his friend Silas interviewed quadriplegics Travis Roy and Jim Maclaren, and made a documentary with the two men giving advice about living life with a disability directly to Zack. This gift so helped Zack that he wanted to do the same for others in his situation, and he's made his own video with the help of friends and family to talk about his own life. There's no way I can talk about Zack's experiences and fortitude and awesome sense of humor any better than he does himself, so check out the video for yourself.
Are disabled people under-represented on TV? One of the things I learned from the Zack Weinstein interview is a resounding YES. Did you know that there are 6 million people living with paralysis in the US? There are 30 million people living with disabilities, so chances are good that you know someone with a disability. If we want all people to have representation on TV, there should be more characters with disabilities than there are.
I think Zack is right, too. Characters of different races, sexualities, or abilities shouldn't always appear in "issue" episodes. That's why I'm hoping Glee asks Zack back--since Finn and now Rachel are both friends with him, it's logical that they would interact with him in future episodes. Don't let this be a great storyline you just leave hanging, Glee writers.
PHOTOS: Glee, "Laryngitis" screencaps, c2010 20th Century Fox Television; Zack Weinstein documentary screencaps, c2008 Zack Weinstein.
Though pretty progressive about putting together a multi-cultural cast that also included differently-abled characters, Glee has gotten some flack for casting non-disabled actor Kevin McHale to play wheelchair-bound Artie Abrams. So when it came time to cast another disabled character for the episode "Laryngitis", Glee found an actor who lived the part as well as played it: Zack Weinstein.
"Laryngitis" revolves around Rachel losing her voice and facing tonsillitis surgery that she fears could permanently wreck her singing. When she drowns herself in self-pity, Finn (Cory Monteith) takes her to see his buddy Sean. A former football star, Sean took a hit during the game that made him a quadriplegic. Through two scenes in the Glee episode, Sean helps Rachel see that even if singing is her greatest skill, it's not all of who she is.
Ironically, actor Zack Weinstein doesn't fault Glee for casting a non-disabled person in the role of Artie--he truly feels that the best actor should win. He auditioned for the role of Sean and won the part, which is the way he wants it. In an interview with Wheelchair Pride blogger Gene, Zack said his wish was for disabled actors to be up for a variety of roles, just as non-disabled actors are:"I think the way that Hollywood can do its best to give people with disabilities a place in this industry, at least as far as acting is concerned, is to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to audition and prove that not only do we fit the role, but we are the perfect person to play the role. One thing that I think would be a real change would be to see a character who has a disability but whose storyline has nothing to do with the disability. When we see characters with disabilities they almost always have storylines having to do with them "dealing with" or "overcoming" their disability. They rarely have any other challenges to face. I would love to get a role where the fact that I have a disability and use a wheelchair has nothing to do whatsoever with what's going on with my character."
When Zack was paralyzed, his friend Silas interviewed quadriplegics Travis Roy and Jim Maclaren, and made a documentary with the two men giving advice about living life with a disability directly to Zack. This gift so helped Zack that he wanted to do the same for others in his situation, and he's made his own video with the help of friends and family to talk about his own life. There's no way I can talk about Zack's experiences and fortitude and awesome sense of humor any better than he does himself, so check out the video for yourself.
Are disabled people under-represented on TV? One of the things I learned from the Zack Weinstein interview is a resounding YES. Did you know that there are 6 million people living with paralysis in the US? There are 30 million people living with disabilities, so chances are good that you know someone with a disability. If we want all people to have representation on TV, there should be more characters with disabilities than there are.I think Zack is right, too. Characters of different races, sexualities, or abilities shouldn't always appear in "issue" episodes. That's why I'm hoping Glee asks Zack back--since Finn and now Rachel are both friends with him, it's logical that they would interact with him in future episodes. Don't let this be a great storyline you just leave hanging, Glee writers.
PHOTOS: Glee, "Laryngitis" screencaps, c2010 20th Century Fox Television; Zack Weinstein documentary screencaps, c2008 Zack Weinstein.
