It’s all too rare to find a realistic, relatable and respectful depiction of a person with disabilities in a Hollywood movie. But “Out of My Mind,” a feature film now airing on Disney Plus, does so beautifully.
The film, starring newcomer Phoebe-Rae Taylor, tells the story of Melody Brooks, a non-verbal middle school student who lives with cerebral palsy. Melody is highly intelligent, but due to her disabilities, she has spent her elementary school years in a special education classroom where she is not sufficiently challenged. When her unrealized potential attracts the attention of one of her teachers, he recommends that Melody be mainstreamed. But how will she keep up with her classmates if she is unable to speak? The answer becomes clear after Melody obtains an augmentative communication device. With her new communicator, Melody is able to express herself like never before. She excels in her mainstream classroom, makes friends, and discovers her true potential.
Directed by Amber Sealey, and also starring Judith Light, Rosemarie Dewitt, Luke Kirby, Michael Chernus, and the voice of Jennifer Aniston, “Out of My Mind,” is based on a popular young adult novel by Sharon M. Draper. When it premiered at the Sundance Festival in January, the film was greeted with two standing ovations! Its young star was heralded for her “pitch perfect” performance.
Like her character, Phoebe-Rae Taylor has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. In casting the film, Sealey was determined to cast a disabled actor as Melody. She also cast many other disabled and neurodiverse actors in the film.
As she told Disability Scoop, “It was really important to me to fill the cast with actors of all abilities and neuro-diversities. We were going to explore in real time what it was like to make the first mainstream movie about a kid with a disability played by a kid with that same disability.”
Actors on the film set, were supported by “a team of disability consultants who worked to ensure accessibility on set and authentic representation on screen.”
“Out of My Mind,” was Brit Phoebe-Rae’s first acting experience. She was cast after submitting a home-made audition tape.
In a quote from Sundance, the actor noted that “It’s quite uncanny, really, how much I related to Melody.”
Taylor acknowledged “that she has experienced many of the same situations that Melody encounters in the film, including hurtful and ignorant comments from others. I think that really helped me to get into the character. I just really related to her, a lot.”
She hopes the film will make viewers recognize how much they have in common with their disabled peers.
