Intro to interview with Brock Waidmann (pictured) at
http://www.newdisability.com/brockwaidmann.htm. Visit that Website to read the entire interview.
Many in the disability community have been calling for Hollywood producers to cast real people with real disabilities in roles where the disability has little or nothing to do with the plot. The people behind the Paul Reiser Show, a series which will soon be broadcast on NBC, will apparently do just that. Twelve year old Brock Waidmann has been cast in the role of Zeke, one of Paul Reiser's two sons on the show. This interview with Brock Waidmann took place by email over a couple of weeks in June 2010. This is Brock's first ever interview:
Gene: Brock, tell us how you got the role of Zeke? Do you have an agent?
Brock: It's a funny story. Just like something out of a Hollywood script. My brother's manager, Cinda Snow, who is now also my manager, called my mom one day and told her that NBC was looking for a boy in a wheelchair my age and asked if she would let me audition for it. I have always wanted to be an actor! I love TV shows & movies, and thought it always looked like fun, but my parents were always worried about it. It's hard enough to make it in show business for someone who is able bodied. We had talked a lot about me going into directing and my parents let me use the video camera a lot with my brothers and friends to make our own videos. Cinda sent the character breakdown to my mom & dad, and after reading it over, they knew it was the perfect opportunity for me to give acting a shot. I didn't even have a headshot yet, so my mom sent one of me at the zoo. It's funny because I had two parrots on me and a trash can behind me. Definitely not your average headshot.
