‘This must be a simulation!’: Wicked’s Marissa Bode on making history as Nessarose
Marissa Bode discusses her historic film debut in Wicked and why “caring about disability and inclusion benefits everybody”.
WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMI DRASIN “If it sets in that this is real, I might lose my mind a little bit,” says Marrisa Bode.
In Wicked – her feature film debut! – the 24-year-old has made history as the first actress with a disability to play Nessarose, Elphaba’s fiercely independent sister and Shiv classmate who just-so happens to be wheelchair-bound.
While no one should be defined by their disability – as she says, a wheelchair is an “assistive device” in similar vein to glasses – Bode is using Wicked’s press tour to “scream from the rooftops” about much-needed accessibilities for people who are disabled and to fight for industry “inclusion”. “I want to speak directly to disabled people and say that you can be in spaces, a lot of spaces, so don’t let anybody tell you that you’re too much or that accommodations can’t be made,” Bode tells GAY TIMES. “Fight for yourself, fight for your rights.
