Disabled actors in disabled roles should be a given – why is Hollywood still getting it wrong?

Ahead of the Oscars, James Moore considers whether last year’s Best Picture winner really was a breakthrough for representation, and asks why disabled actors aren’t more prevalent in cinema

‘CODA’ took the top spot in 2022 for its portrayal of the Rossi family, most of whom are deaf (AP)

A gamechanger in terms of representation,” it was said after CODA won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Troy Kotsur won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Frank Rossi in the film, becoming only the third actor with a disability to win an Oscar.

If so, it’s a funny old game. If CODA was one step forward, this year has delivered two steps back, because what do we have?

Brendan Fraser in a fatsuit, sitting in a wheelchair he doesn’t need, may win Best Actor for the cruelly named The Whale. True, obesity hasn’t traditionally been viewed as a disability, although a European Court of Justice ruling held that it could be considered as such where it hinders “full and effective participation in the workplace”.