After my Jan. 9 post about the new film "Yonkers Joe," which has a main character with Down syndrome, who is played by a non-disabled actor, I received an email from Gail Williamson, the Executive Director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles. (She formerly worked for the California Governor’s Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities for 12 years in its Media Access Office, which promoted employment of people with disabilities in the media.) She is also the mother of an actor with Down syndrome, Blair Williamson.She works as a consultant on disability issues for the media and particularly on Down syndrome and received the script for "Yonkers Joe" before filming began and she felt the project was better served by not having an actor with Down syndrome.
"When I read the script for YJ, I was not inclined to ask for an actor with DS to play the role because of the content," Williamson said. "The role is extremely 'gritty' and the attempted rape scene was very tough. I think the story plays out well. I think this is a story that could happen, but I didn’t think it was a story that a professional actor with DS needed to play.
"The producers had (actor) Tom Guiry (pictured far left in the photo) meet with a man with DS," Williamson said. "I introduced them to Christopher Devlin of New Jersey, a 'gritty guy' in his own way. I believe he appears in the film as the referee when Joe. Jr. is first introduced while wrestling." (Devlin, a NJ factory worker with Down syndrome, was inspired to do some acting by Chris Burke's work as an actor with Down syndrome as a main character in the early 1990s TV series, "Life goes on.")
Williamson recommends the film "Yonkers Joe" and says in most cases she would have pushed for an actor with Down syndrome to be in any film role that calls for someone with Down syndrome. " But in this case, I felt it might not be a good experience for these actors," she said.
Williamson is responsible for many of the actors with Down syndrome connecting with producers and casting directors in the film and TV industry. She introduced Eddy Barbanell of “The Ringer” to its producers. And she worked as Chris Burke’s dialogue coach on “Touched by an Angel.” Her son, Blair, has appeared on "Nip/Tuck," "The Guardian," CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," and "ER," to name a few of his projects.
Thanks to Gail Williamson for giving the Media dis&dat blog some insight into the "Yonkers Joe" project.