A few months ago I happened upon a hilarious trailer for a new show starring a hottie protagonist in a wheelchair. After I recovered from my newfound crush, I found out the lady in question was Ms. Teal Sherer- star of the new program My Gimpy Life. We here at Where’s Lulu are incredibly excited for the show! Check out our interview with Teal.
When did you first get involved with acting?
I started acting in college. As part of my Communications major at Oglethorpe University (in Atlanta), I had to take a theatre class. I immediately fell in love. My professor Troy Dwyer was very encouraging and didn’t treat me any differently because I was in a wheelchair. He cast me in my first play Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba and from then on I was either acting in a production or working behind the scenes – stage managing, ushering, or selling tickets. While in college I also learned about Full Radius Dance, which is a physically integrated (including both dancers with and without disabilities) professional modern dance company. I auditioned for them and was accepted into their company. I danced with them for over five years. It was an incredible experience.
How did My Gimpy Life come about and how would you describe it to someone unfamiliar with the show?
My Gimpy Life is loosely based on my life and the awkward situations I encounter being an actress with a disability in Hollywood. I became disabled when I was 14 years old. I was in a car accident, broke my back and suffered from a spinal cord injury. One of the biggest adjustments I had to make (besides obviously the physical one) was the way society now interacted with me. Over night I became a minority and I starting finding myself in crazy situations that at times could be really frustrating but then at the same time really comical. I’ve always wanted to give a voice to my perspective. I was inspired to go the web series route because of my involvement in Felicia Day’s hit web series The Guild. I told Felicia about my idea and she was very encouraging and suggested I collaborate with an awesome comedy writer named Gabe Uhr – we met and immediately hit it off.
There’s some hilarious scenes in the trailer for My Gimpy Life. In particular, there’s one where you’re talking with a man who’s interested in you and he awkwardly asks you if everything ‘works down there.’ I thought this was hysterical but also realistic in capturing certain aspects of life as a disabled woman. How much of what we see in the show comes from your own life? Since disability often provides lots of comedic material to work with, have you had any experiences that you specifically wanted to include in the show?
Most of what you see on the show is from my own life or was at least inspired by something that happened to me. Gabe and I start with these real stories, mix and match them and then slightly embellish. Yes, I’ve had experiences that we specifically are putting into the show. The scene in the trailer of the guy coming up to me asking if I can have sex was one of them.
Breaking into Hollywood as an actress is obviously very difficult. How challenging is it to do so when you’re disabled and reading for parts that aren’t written with disability in mind? How do you feel about non-disabled actors playing roles of disabled people?
One of the biggest goals for performers with disabilities is to be considered for characters that are not disability specific. There’s no reason we can’t play the mother, the teacher, the lawyer, the criminal, etc… because these are people we are or could potentially be in real life. We are so much more than the disability. Being an actor with a disability doesn’t entitle you to play a disabled part. I believe the best actor for that part (whether disabled or not) should get the role. My biggest gripe is when casting directors/producers don’t even audition disabled actors for a disabled part. There are so many talented actors with disabilities out there that want and deserve to work.
Visibility and representation of people with disabilities in media is hugely important yet incredibly lacking. I was struck by how revolutionary it felt to watch a young, disabled woman onscreen (even though you’re doing every day, normal things), simply because it doesn’t happen very often. Even though My Gimpy Life is a comedy, it still has potential to change peoples’ minds about disability (or at least get them thinking about it). Was that a motivating factor for creating the show or were you just interested in the project itself?
First and foremost my goal is to produce great material that entertains. At the same time it’s rewarding to give voice to a perspective that is rarely heard in the entertainment industry. Knowing that my show has the potential to change peoples’ minds about disability or at least get them thinking about it was definitely a motivating factor for me creating the show.
When and where can we watch My Gimpy Life?
My Gimpy Life will premiere online on Tuesday, June 12th on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/MyGimpyLife New episodes will come out on Tuesdays. In the meantime keep up with the show on our Facebook page for updates and other cool things we are up to. And definitely subscribe to our youtube channel.
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