Actor targets 'scarred villain' screen stereotype

An actor is backing a charity's call for more positive roles for performers with scars and visible differences.

Northamptonshire-based Robert Rhodes, who has appeared in Silent Witness and House of the Dragon, said: "The media industry needs to start reflecting the true experience of people with visible difference."

The charity Changing Faces wants the film and TV industry to stop using scars, burns and other visible differences as marks of villainy and has started a petition calling for more positive representation.

One casting agency said visible differences were often used as a shorthand for villainy, but that these casting briefs could be successfully challenged.

New research by the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) at the University of the West of England showed that people who are exposed to visible difference via villainous characters go on to have a more negative perception of people with visible difference in the real world, the charity said.

Rhodes, who was recently in the BBC One show, The Rapture, was born with a large facial birthmark as a result of congenital melanocytic nevus and was left with scarring following multiple surgeries to remove it as a child.

He said: "We can't wait for action any longer.

"Yes, there is often trauma associated with a scar, but we experience joy, love and success just like everyone else.

"More neutral and aspirational characters on screen will improve real perceptions of the whole visible difference community."

Fellow actor Beau Bradfield said: "As an actor with facial scarring, I know how important it is to see people with visible differences represented on screen as real, complex people.

"I want children growing up with visible differences to see characters who look like them being heroes, friends, parents and love interests – not just villains."

About 4.9 million people in the UK have a visible difference, the charity said.

As part of its work to monitor visible difference representation, it has worked with the Creative Diversity Network to include visible difference as a category in its diversity data monitoring and reporting.

Louise Wright, chief executive of Changing Faces, said: "For years we've asked the industry to think about the stories it tells about visible difference.

"Now, for the first time, we have proof that those stories don't stay on screen – they shape how people with visible difference are treated in real life.

"Halloween is the moment this is impossible to ignore, which is why we're asking industry, and the public, to help us change it."

Bailey Frances, from Cambridge-based Shakyra Dowling Casting, a member of the Casting Directors' Association, said: "Getting it right matters.

"Villains are often written with visible differences (eg facial scars) as shorthand, but asking whether a character could be interpreted differently, or whether that difference is essential to the story, leads to better, more truthful storytelling," she said.

"We regularly present actors who don't match the description on the page but fit the character perfectly, and they're often the ones who get the job.

"Casting directors are in a unique position to widen the search and open up the conversation with writers and directors, challenging the initial casting briefs where needed."

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