George Muniz Gund
June 26th 2023
Many people tend to think of the acting industry as being a safe, happy, progressive and inclusive industry. I once thought that way, however now that I have been a part of the industry for almost two years, as a disabled actor, I can say that platonic belief sadly is far from the truth. Many have already spoken about the serious issues with racism, homophobia, sexism and sexual misconduct in the industry, however few seem to notice and/or speak of the rampant ableism that also takes place behind the scenes (pun intended).
I want to talk about one particular part of the self-tape auditioning process that in my opinion and in the opinion of many others, is highly discriminatory towards those who think, behave and present differently, especially (but not limited to) autistic people (especially those with high support needs and co-occurring disabilities that are unable to mask their traits and appear neurotypical). I am referring to the slate video process. The slate video review process is entirely based on judging an actor based on if they present in a way that is cheery and palatable to casting directors. This is outwardly discriminatory towards people with social communication differences, who are unable to present in the cheery, enthusiastic, neuronormative ways. I am one of those people. I have spent my entire life being misjudged and excluded for looking or behaving “too weirdly”. I became an actor around the same time as I began to step out of my shell and advocate for more acceptance and understanding of autism, autistic culture and autistic experiences, as well as neurodiversity and disabilities in general (people that are autistic and/or have ADHD can also have other co-occurring disabilities). When I first started acting, just over one year ago, fresh off a two year intensive training program in the Meisner Technique, I truly believed this would be an inclusive industry, but unfortunately have come to see quite the opposite. I once submitted an audition to my talent agent for review and was told that I seemed to have “no fun in life” and would be “no fun to have on set”, based simply on the fact that my slate was very monotone (which is how a lot of autistic people talk), and I followed directions rather than putting on a cheery, neuronormative, and quite honestly fake-like feeling presentation which wouldn’t feel like my authentic self. I felt really good about the audition for the actual job I was applying for but that didn’t seem to matter at all. I was shocked to later discover that a lot of auditions don’t even get watched because of the slate. Meaning people that present differently because of a disability are blatantly discriminated against and disregarded without even having their audition actually looked at, simply because they don’t come off “happy” enough in a short five second slate video. This is downright prejudice and as an autistic person I find this saddening, concerning offensive and disgusting. It is disgusting to see how normalized ableism is in this industry. A person that doesn’t “look” happy or fun in a slate can actually be really interesting if you give them a chance to open up and feel like you actually want to have a conversation with them and get to know them for real, instead of judging them based on a five second slate video and not watching the actual audition that they put so much work in to. Truly shameful. I see videos on “how to slate properly” and the blatant ableism and prejudice makes me sick to my stomach. Teaching and expecting autistic, neurodivergent and/or disabled folks to mask their style of thinking and being (due to the unique ways we see the world) in order to present or come off as more palatable (let’s be honest…) so able-bodied neurotypicals can feel more comfortable is not helping anyone. It is in fact harming hard working disabled actors, like myself, who aren’t even having their work watched or being considered for auditions due to these blatantly ableist and autistophobic neuronormative protocols. Consequently, we end up watching non-disabled actors play disabled characters in very stigmatized portrayals that make us feel like we are being ridiculed or made fun of
Talented disabled actors exist in abundance and are ready to work, but barely ever even seem to get hired as consultants. We exist and we are competent and capable, when we’re actually given a chance! Many agents and casting directors have very stigmatized views of Autism and disability, some might not even think of someone autistic being capable of writing this letter. All of this just shows the chilling lack of awareness and understanding around disability and neurodiversity, which leaves disabled folks like me stuck in the same harmful loop of stigmas and stigmatization of our differences in thinking and being.
A lot of us end up working in the arts due to our very creative minds and largely fluctuating levels of dopamine. Many of us spend our whole lives never realizing we are disabled, while blaming ourselves for our struggles and being told to “try harder”. Getting a diagnosis is also a very expensive process that many can’t afford and there is very little knowledge in the medical field about how these conditions can present particularly in women and people of color. My psychotherapist has mentioned this to me several times, as has my sister who just graduated from USC with a bachelors in Psychology. Due to the world we live in, many people struggle with shame and internalized ableism, therefore do not feel comfortable being open about their disabilities. A recent study showed that people with ADHD receive an average of 20,000 negative messages throughout their lives by the time they reach age 10. We are constantly being conditioned to hide our disabilities, feel ashamed of being ourselves, and put on a fake mask to act neurotypical. We are tired of trying to behave like neurotypicals. This industry should be all about expressing our authentic selves, and many of us simply don’t feel safe doing so.
Another huge problem is that non-disabled folks have been dominating the narrative and speaking over disabled folks for ages, treating us like tragedies, trying to erase our unique cultures and ways of thinking, rather than actually trying to understand us, OUR styles of being and how WE want to be accommodated, not what molds we are supposed to fit in to be considered worthy as actors and as people! We are sick and tired of being infantilized, ignored throughout our lives and in this industry.
Many of us have the privilege of being able to mask our disability traits (at the cost of extreme burnout and exhaustion) to appear more palatable to casting directors and book jobs. However many of us, especially those with co-occurring disabilities, simply are not able to mask. Some of us are visibly disabled, and that needs to be accepted! Disability masking is but shouldn’t be a privilege in any space! No one should have to feel forced to mask their true authentic self in order to even have someone consider watching the work that they put so much effort into making, editing and sending out. The responsibility to change is on the industry, not disabled actors! We need recognition and change immediately! We want to be heard and will not stand for this anymore!
My goal with writing this essay is to expose and highlight the major issues involving ableism against those with non-visible disabilities and inspire people (especially those who work in the entertainment industry) to have more conversations about this matter and push for a much needed change towards more true disability inclusivity in the industry, in addition to inclusivity of all other marginalized groups.
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