Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis and Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, co-authored a guest column in The Wrap urging Hollywood to expand authentic disability representation on-screen.
Their piece, “The Next Chapter in Hollywood’s Journey Towards Authentic Representation”, highlights new research from the Ruderman Family Foundation and the Geena Davis Institute showing that only 21% of characters with disabilities are authentically cast. While progress is evident compared to earlier eras, people with disabilities remain vastly underrepresented in scripted television, despite comprising nearly 30% of the U.S. population.
Davis and Ruderman argue that authentic casting not only enriches storytelling but also shifts societal attitudes around inclusion in employment, education, and beyond. They call on writers, casting directors, and studios to make authentic representation the industry standard—pointing to successful examples such as Marvel’s Echo and Amazon’s As We See It.
The column underscores how authentic portrayals resonate with audiences and create meaningful cultural impact, offering both a recognition of progress and a roadmap for accelerating change.