Marissa Bode is addressing disappointing remarks about her Wicked character.
One week after the film premiered in theaters, the actress, who like her character Nessarose uses a wheelchair in real life, responded to ableist comments that she described as "low-hanging fruit" about Nessarose.
"It is absolutely OK to not like a fictional character," Marissa began in her Nov. 29 TikTok video, acknowledging the polarizing response to her character. "I think Nessa is complex, but that's the beauty of art. Wicked, these characters and the movie wouldn't be what it was if there weren't different opinions on the characters and who's truly wicked or not. Not liking Nessa herself is OK. Because she is fictional, that's totally fine."
"Aggressive comments and 'jokes' about Ness' disability itself are deeply uncomfortable because disability is not fictional," she continued. "At the end of the day, me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair. It is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking."
The 24-year-old added that prior to being cast as Nessarose—whom many find frustrating for not supporting her sister Elphaba amid her difficult Shiz journey—alongside onscreen older sister Cynthia Erivo in the film adaptation, she had been the target of ableist jokes.
"I had received comments—just as me, as Marissa, not Nessa—around the words of 'Stand up for yourself,' 'I guess you can't stand him,' et cetera," she explained. "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."
Marissa, who is the first wheelchair user to play the Shiz University student, emphasized that these remarks go beyond the individual person.
"These comments do not exist in a vacuum," she said. "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 urged fans not to invalidate experiences they believe can't be true "because you personally don't feel that way about a joke that wouldn't have affected your demographic anyway."
Instead, she asked, "Listen to the people or to the person that it is affecting and how it makes them feel."
Marissa also emphasized that although she is at a point where she "can recognize these jokes about disability are made out of ignorance," it took time to build that confidence.
"It would have affected younger me a lot more," she said. "I'm worried that a younger version of myself is somewhere on the internet and is harmed by these comments."
She concluded her response with the film's message, noting, "One of the major themes within 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."
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