“Wicked” star Marissa Budd has spoken out against negative comments and jokes about her character Nessarose’s disability, calling them “aggressive,” “absolutely terrible” and “harmful.”
In a five-minute video posted to TikTok on Friday, Bode — who uses a wheelchair on screen and in real life — shared her thoughts on insensitive comments circulating online about Nessarose, the younger sister of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo).
“It’s perfectly acceptable to not like a fictional character,” Buddy said. “I’ll admit to my bias in the way that I have a lot of different feelings about Nyssa than a lot of you do, and that’s totally fine. I think Nyssa is complex, but that’s the beauty of art. The ‘villains’ and these characters and the movie wouldn’t be the same if there weren’t different opinions about the characters.” And who is really evil or not and Nyssa not liking herself is okay and because she’s fictional, that’s totally fine.”
Bodie admitted that she is a “very not-so-serious person” and does not mind “silly, goofy, harmless” jokes regarding Nessarose’s character or actions – asserting that this is because the “evil” character is fictional. However, she does not condone “offensive” comments and jokes about Nessarose’s disability, adding that she “feels very uncomfortable.”
“Disability is not an imaginary thing,” Budi continued. “At the end of the day, I am Marissa, the person who is still disabled and in a wheelchair. So, it’s just the low-hanging fruit that many of you feel comfortable eating.
Buddy noted that she has heard many jokes about people with disabilities, not only about Nessarose, but about herself as well. “Before I was in Wicked, I had received comments — just like Marissa, not Nessa — about the lyrics, ‘Stand up for yourself,’ ‘I think you can’t take it,’ etc.,” she said. “Those comments are not authentic,” she said. And when these jokes are told by non-disabled strangers with the phrase unable to walk, it sounds a lot like laughing. in Instead of laughing with“.
She added: “This is way beyond me, Marissa, as I just need to ignore the comments online. These comments do not exist in a vacuum. Aggressive comments of wanting to cause harm and pushing Nessa out of her wheelchair, or that she deserves to be disabled, are gross and harmful.” Real disabled people, myself included, have heard them before.
Bode urged “Wicked” viewers to stop dismissing each other and “claiming experience can’t be true because you personally don’t feel that way about a joke that wouldn’t have affected your demographic anyway.”
She continued: “Listen to the people or the person it affects and how it makes them feel. Fortunately, I’m at a place in my life today where I can realize that these jokes about disability are made out of ignorance. I couldn’t have said the same thing about Marissa 10 years ago, and it would have affected me so much, I’m worried that a younger version of me is out there somewhere online and being hurt by these comments.
Bodhi concluded the video by saying: “Finally, I want to say that one of the main themes of ‘Wicked’ is the ability to listen and understand each other. I really hope that many of you can practice more and take it with you.”
Bode is the first wheelchair user in “Wicked’s” history to play Nessarose. In an interview with diverseThe actor talked about adding more dimension to the character through the two-part structure of the film adaptation. (“Wicked: Part Two” will hit the big screen on November 21, 2025.)
“Obviously it’s a beautiful musical and I love musical theatre, but you don’t really get to see little moments in the bond between the two sisters a lot, or just their love for each other. You can see that more in the film,” she explained. “And I think that’s really important, because it makes what It happens in the second film, which is even more devastating. It humanizes Nyssa as a character, and shows how much she cares about people. “I think it was a great decision.”