Wicked star hits back at ableist online trolls-Joel Harley-Entertainment – Metro

Marissa Bode stars in Broadway musical adaptation Wicked (Picture: Universal)

Wicked star Marissa Bode has hit back at the ableist abuse she has received from online trolls since appearing in the movie adaptation of the hit stage musical.

Marissa, 24, plays Nessarose ‘Nessa’ Thropp in the film – the younger sister of wicked witch-to be Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo).

Like her character, Marissa is a wheelchair user – making her the first authentic wheelchair user to play the character in any medium.

In addition to the coming of age story of Elphaba and Galinda (played by actor and musician Ariana Grande), Wicked also tells Nessa’s tale – following her as she leaves the family home for the first time to experience college life away from her domineering father and headline-grabbing sister.

The film has launched to critical and audience acclaim – butthe actor has grown concerned after seeing a series of ableist comments directed towards Nessa from fans – specifically those rooted in her disability.

In a video posted to her TikTok account, Marissa has spoken out, slamming trolls for jokes and comments mad in poor taste.

Marissa plays Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose in the film (Picture: Shutterstock)

Speaking in a video posted this week, Marissa said: ‘It is absolutely okay to not like a fictional character. I am going to be admitting my bias in that I have a lot of different feelings on Nessa than a lot of you do.

‘And that’s totally fine. I think Nessa is complex, but that’s the beauty of art and Wicked.’

However, she feels that some have crossed the line in the way that they speak about Nessa – and how it speaks to an overall sense of ableism surrounding disabled people in the media.

Marissa has grown concerned by some of the comments she’s seen online (Picture: Marissa Bode/Tiktok)

Trolls have crossed a line in their ableist abuse of Nessa and Marissa (Picture: Marissa Bode/TikTok)

‘Aggressive comments and jokes about Ness’s disability itself is deeply uncomfortable because disability is not fictional,’ Marissa continued.

‘At the end of the day me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair.

‘And so it is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking. Before even being cast in Wicked, I had received comments just as me, not Nessa, around the words of “stand up for yourself,” “I guess you can’t stand him.”

‘These comments aren’t original, and when these jokes are being made by non-disabled strangers with a punchline of not being able to walk, it very much feels like laughing at rather than laughing with me,’ said Marissa – who has been a wheelchair user since the age of 11, following a car crash.

Marissa stars opposite Ethan Slater, who plays love interest Boq (Picture: Universal)

Marissa continued: ‘Aggressive comments of wanting to cause harm and push Nessa out of her wheelchair or that she deserves her disability are two very gross and harmful comments that real disabled people including myself have heard before.’

She went on to say how she had been scared to speak out, having seen firsthand how disabled peers had been ‘flooded’ with abuse after calling out ableism online.

‘They’re told to just “take a joke” and that they’re asking for too much,’ Marissa added.

Marissa has highlighted the importance of representation in our media (Picture: Shutterstock)

She finished by appealing to viewers to ‘listen to the people or to the person that it is affecting and how it makes them feel.

‘Thankfully, I’m at a place in my life today where I can recognise these jokes about disability are made out of ignorance.’

‘I’m worried that a younger version of myself is somewhere on the internet and is harmed by these comments.’

She finished by saying: ‘One of the major themes in Wicked is having the ability to listen and understand one another, and I truly hope that is something a lot of you can practice more and take with you. Thank you.’

Marissa will return for the film’s second half next year (Picture: Taylor Hill/Film Magic)

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Marissa spoke of the importance of representation in film and entertainment, saying: ‘Representation for authentically disabled people is already quite minimal.

‘So to have the opportunity and make a point of it, especially in a huge project that’s beloved by so many people, that’s incredibly important, especially in terms of sending a message to other projects that it’s possible to include disabled people in your casts.’

The film, which was released in UK cinemas last week, has already left audiences feeling empowered, culminating in that iconic final riff as Defying Gravity explodes onto the big screen for the first time.

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