'Wicked' star Marissa Bode shares real thoughts on her disability, onscreen representation Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY October 15, 2025 at 1:42 AM 0 COLUMBUS, Ohio — Marissa Bode isn't just breaking ground on "Wicked" – she's using her platform to push Hollywood to rethink how it represents disabilit...
- - 'Wicked' star Marissa Bode shares real thoughts on her disability, onscreen representation
Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY October 15, 2025 at 1:42 AM
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Marissa Bode isn't just breaking ground on "Wicked" – she's using her platform to push Hollywood to rethink how it represents disability.
Bode, 25, says reactions to the first film from young viewers, including kids who are disabled and those who aren't used to "seeing somebody that looks a little bit different from them on a big screen," have been "really impactful and really cool." But representation is only the beginning, and there is still a much-needed reconsideration around people with disabilities working in the industry, she says.
"Representation barely scratches the surface of disability issues," she tells USA TODAY.
"There is a lot of work still to be done," she says.
Marissa Bode attends the 2025 Variety Power of Young Hollywood event at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on August 7, 2025, in Los Angeles.
The actress, who is set to return to the big screen Nov. 21 for "Wicked: For Good," is reflecting on the response to her role as the first actress in a wheelchair to play Nessarose, her ongoing disability advocacy and what's next during a conversation at Forbes' 30 Under 30 Summit in early October.
She says of her disability: "It's honestly one of the least interesting things about me, I think."
Marissa Bode speaks out on Gaza, advocates for people with disabilities
Amid promoting "Wicked," the outspoken advocate has continued using her platform to boost others' voices. Bode has cultivated a social justice-minded audience on TikTok and Instagram. Her pages are full of public service announcements and posts amplifying information about the degradation of disability rights as well as their overlap with the war in Gaza.
Bode wants to continue to "speak more about disability issues and share more resources (about) disability to a wider audience," she says, adding she feels responsible for using her voice to lend support to these causes.
Bode says her platform allows her to reach a "wider audience" and advocate for "intersectionality" across communities.
"Because when I'm talking about the disabled community, I am talking about Black disabled people. I'm talking about disabled Palestinians. I'm talking about Palestinians that are becoming disabled because of the tax on the current genocide that's going on," she says. "It's important to not only speak on it and encourage others to speak on it, but also to share resources."
Bode's intersectional approach also informs her thoughts on visibility and change in film and TV.
"I would love to see more changes in the industry still," especially with "casting disabled people in everyday roles that don't necessarily have to do with our disability, as well as having more disabled people behind the camera, and having more than one disabled person on screen at the same time."
Marissa Bode attends the 2025 Teen Vogue Summit at NYA WEST on Sept. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles.
She points to actors like Jesse Yates, who stars as a second-year emergency medicine resident in Netflix's "Pulse," as an example of stars in everyday roles who also happen to be wheelchair-bound.
"I think art imitates life a lot of the time, and the way that we're perceived on screen affects the way that we're treated and seen in everyday life,' she says. "So I think normalizing disabled people even more for non-disabled audiences …would be very important."
Marissa Bode talks Nessarose's 'Wicked: For Good' story arc
Bode is looking ahead to a few upcoming short films, as well as the release of "Wicked: For Good." Careful to not spoil anything, she says fans can expect the film to stay largely true to the original stage musical, though for Nessarose in particular, there are "subtle" differences.
"I know that Nessa's desires are different and her motivations are different from the stage musical, and I think it makes her a little bit ... less one-dimensional," says the actress.
Bode says Nessarose, who by the end of "Wicked: Part One" appears skeptical of her love interest Boq's romantic advances, continues to be steadfast in her desire for independence and autonomy.
"I feel like her story expands in a way that more people can relate to in the way of her deepest desire isn't to be fixed or healed," she says. "When you see in the dance scene – when she feels like she has given autonomy and just to be free in herself by Boq at the Ozdust dance – that's established."
She continues: "All she really wants is to just hold on to that moment and to hold on to feeling like she's loved and feeling like she's seen for the first time. And I think that's an experience, not only disabled people, but of course, a widespread audience can feel, just wanting to go back to a certain time in their life. I'm really happy with that change."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Disability advocate, 'Wicked' star Marissa Bode on representation
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