First disabled adult role for 'Enders

[Perdita]

BBC soap EastEnders has cast its first ever adult disabled actor.

Wheelchair user David Proud will take on the role of Manda Best's (Josie Lawrence) son Adam, a 20-year-old self-obsessed, snobbish Oxford University student who arrives in Walford during the holidays to stay with his mother.

Upon his arrival on the Square, Adam quickly forms a low opinion of Manda's boyfriend Minty (Cliff Parisi), while there's an intellectual meeting of minds as he's introduced to Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu).

Both character and actor suffer from Spina Bifida, a developmental birth defect which results in an incomplete formation of the spinal cord.

Speaking of his casting, the 26-year-old said: "I'm delighted and honoured to be joining such a talented cast. I'm very excited and looking forward to bringing the character to life."

Executive producer Diederick Santer said: "I'm delighted to welcome David to EastEnders. He's a fine young actor with a wonderfully dry comic delivery playing an interesting and possibly rather irritating character. I'm sure he and his character Adam will be strong additions to EastEnders.

"In recent years, we've had a number of regular and guest characters with disabilities, some of them children like Janet Mitchell and more recently Syd's son, Noah. We've also told the story of Jean Slater who suffers from bipolar disorder."

He added: "But this is the first time we've had a regular adult character with a visible disability played by an actor with a disability. It's about time."

Proud begins filming within the next few weeks and will make his screen debut in the autumm.

His previous screen credits include a lead role in CBBC basketball drama Desperados and ITV's second series of Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.

In December, Channel 4 series Hollyoaks announced the casting of Guillain-Barré Syndrome sufferer Kelly-Marie Stewart. She took on the role of bubbly joker Hayley Ramsey, who also suffers from the same condition on screen. Stewart made her first appearance in the teen soap at the end of January.

In March, Emmerdale cast the first blind actress in a UK soap with Kitty McGeever as comic character Lizzie Lakely. The mischievous petty criminal arrived in the village at the end of April.

Last month, Coronation Street signed deaf actress Ali Briggs for another stint in Weatherfield as Emily Bishop's (Eileen Derbyshire) niece Freda.

[sindydoll]

what do they want a round of applause! his he so differant that they have to make a public issue about it

[di marco]

i think its cos people always moan about the lack of disabled actors on tv especially in soaps

[JustJodi]

here is what this David Proud looks like:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2669710/

[CrazyLea]

I agree with Sindydoll. So he is disabled, so what? He's the same as us :s Make such a fuss just beause he is disabled.

[di marco]

i agree they shouldnt make such a fuss just cos hes disabled, but i dont think shows would make such a fuss if people didnt go on about them needing disabled people in the programmes. i dont think it should matter to the producers or the audience whether they have disabled people as opposed to non disabled people. yes they should hire disabled people but not in a seemingly different category than everyone else which sadly always seems to be the case

[lizann]

So could he be Phil's son maybe :hmm:

[Kim]

They made a fuss about it when they had their first all black cast episode too. Both are minorities and in terms of press coverage I think it is only fair that they are handled equally as a kind of milestone in the show's history.

And as a disabled person I think that this could be very good for readers. I and all of the disabled people that I know personally have quite low self confidence and I think that it will be encouraging for other disabled people wanting to pursue an acting career particularly to read that someone in a similar situation has got a part in such a well known show.

[CrazyLea]

Yeah it's good in that respect that it gives other disabled people confidence and know that they can do this even though. But still, why make such a fuss about a disabled person? If they didn't make a press release about it would anyone even think twice about it? I wouldn't.

[sindydoll]

So could he be Phil's son maybe :hmm: phils son? have i missed something?

[Perdita]

So could he be Phil's son maybe :hmm: phils son? have i missed something?

Manda, Minty's girlfriend and his mum used to go out with Phil when they were teenagers. :) Would not put it past EE scriptwriters to be Phil's son but I hope not.

[di marco]

i think it would be a bit silly to have him as phils son

[Perdita]

Does not seem to worry scriptwriters or producers if storylines are a bit silly, otherwise we would not have had half the going-ons that we have had in all soaps.

[Siobhan]

Yeah.. it would be stupid if you think Kath is right and Heather's baby is his son and he is probably Archie's son and Grant is Ben's son.. this is too complicated even for a soap (well maybe not Sunset beach, perhaps is should be rename to rainy walford :lol: )

[Perdita]

Yeah.. it would be stupid if you think Kath is right and Heather's baby is his son and he is probably Archie's son and Grant is Ben's son.. this is too complicated even for a soap (well maybe not Sunset beach, perhaps is should be rename to rainy walford :lol: )


I think it should be the other way round :lol:

[di marco]

its just that i think if he was phils son, there would have been some mention of a son or hints about it or something. she doesnt seem like shes hiding anything from phil so for him to turn up and it be that hes phils son i dont think would really make sense. the storylines are probably going to revolve around his disability rather than anything else i would think

[tammyy2j]

I think EE already has a few actor/actresses in the show with disabilities (i.e. cant act) :lol:

I know cruel joke - my apologises couldnt resist

[Siobhan]

Yeah.. it would be stupid if you think Kath is right and Heather's baby is his son and he is probably Archie's son and Grant is Ben's son.. this is too complicated even for a soap (well maybe not Sunset beach, perhaps is should be rename to rainy walford :lol: )


I think it should be the other way round :lol:

maybe not with all the switching going on

[JustJodi]

They made a fuss about it when they had their first all black cast episode too. Both are minorities and in terms of press coverage I think it is only fair that they are handled equally as a kind of milestone in the show's history.

And as a disabled person I think that this could be very good for readers. I and all of the disabled people that I know personally have quite low self confidence and I think that it will be encouraging for other disabled people wanting to pursue an acting career particularly to read that someone in a similar situation has got a part in such a well known show.

Kim I am also disabled.. well I have an invisable disablility ( I am deaf ) I know that there have been some deaf people who wanted to become actors and actresses ( Marlee Matlin comes to mind ) but the really directors wanted non disabled people to play the part ( of a disabled person )because it was less risky and did not cost as much ( meaning they would have to make the sets accessible for them, and that meant adding more money to the budget ) I think it is great they are featuring David Proud, and yes it will give other disabled folks HOPE and confidence that they too can pursue their dreams.

[Kim]

That's exactly what I thought the producer's take on the matter would be. Someone said further up the thread that they thought disabled people shouldn't be employed in a different category to someone without a disability. In the case of those needing special access arrangements etc such as David Proud I think this is just something that is inevitable and that it should be done to ensure equal opportunities.

[LostVoodoo]

i'm more bothered about the fact that they've said he's snobby because he goes to Oxford...ffs Eastenders! just when i think they might be doing something positive in having characters at university they have to play to stereotypes.

[di marco]

tbh though from people i know that go to oxford they are all snobby! i know i dont know them all and some people that go there might not be but i reckon a lot are

[LostVoodoo]

tbh though from people i know that go to oxford they are all snobby! i know i dont know them all and some people that go there might not be but i reckon a lot are

i know a few people who went to Oxbridge and they aren't snobby and niether are the friends they've met there. they might be very intelligent and some of them have money, but that doesn't automatically make them snobby.

i get really annoyed with the way sopas, but mainly Eastenders seem to have an issue with people who go to university, they're all somehow exclusive and 'different' to normal people. remember sonia training to become a nurse and somehow she was betraying her family with martin and everyone said she was bound to run off with a doctor? that's why i was quite pleased when Libby and Tamwar got the whole universtiy storyline, so at least one of them had better go!

[di marco]

tbh though from people i know that go to oxford they are all snobby! i know i dont know them all and some people that go there might not be but i reckon a lot are

i know a few people who went to Oxbridge and they aren't snobby and niether are the friends they've met there. they might be very intelligent and some of them have money, but that doesn't automatically make them snobby.

i get really annoyed with the way sopas, but mainly Eastenders seem to have an issue with people who go to university, they're all somehow exclusive and 'different' to normal people. remember sonia training to become a nurse and somehow she was betraying her family with martin and everyone said she was bound to run off with a doctor? that's why i was quite pleased when Libby and Tamwar got the whole universtiy storyline, so at least one of them had better go!

as i said not all people who go to oxford or cambridge are snobby but the people i know have been. although not everyone who goes to uni is snobby especially now as quite a lot of people go

[Perdita]

EastEnders star David Proud has insisted that his disabled character must not become a "stereotype" on the soap.

The actor, who was born with spina bifida and cannot walk unaided, made his debut as wheelchair user Adam Best last night. His role was first announced in June.

Though Proud is the BBC One show's first ever adult disabled actor, he has confirmed that its writers will not be dwelling on the issue in Adam's forthcoming plots.

Speaking to The Sun, the 26-year-old commented: "The BBC scriptwriters used my independent nature to shape their characterisation of Adam. They have purposely avoided making his disability a storyline."

He continued: "Adam thinks his mother's boyfriend Minty isn't good enough for her and neither is the Queen Vic up to standard. Not all disabled people are nice, so all characters shouldn't be either. It's a stereotype. People are people. He is a multi-layered, rounded character and his story will unfold."

Proud also revealed that changes were made to the Albert Square set before he filmed his first scenes.

"They have tweaked it to give me as much access as I need but it was all done by the time I arrived," he explained. "We haven't tackled the height of the Queen Vic bar yet but it's representative. I mean, the world isn't accessible and it's important that the set highlights this for my character."

Proud's real-life condition, a birth defect which results in an incomplete formation of the spinal cord, is also used to explain Adam's wheelchair use on the programme.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a176865/proud-disability-wont-be-a-storyline.html

[sindydoll]

where do i know his face from

[jessicaesutton]

where do i know his face from

He was in a CBBC series called Desperados and he was also in an episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl with Billie Piper in series 2.

[sindydoll]

never watched them maybe he just has a fimilier face

[Chris_2k11]

I dont like him for some reason

[sindydoll]

I dont like him for some reason
he's a creep

[Siobhan]

I dont like him for some reason

I think for me cause he was sliming all over Libby when Darren was there.. and then using his disability to say to Darren: "I dare you to say something, you will come out the worst in this"...