Director Amber Sealey & Star Phoebe-Rae Taylor Talk ‘Out Of My Mind’

The Disney+ unique film Out of My Mind, primarily based on the novel of the identical title by Sharon M. Draper, follows preteen Melody Brooks (Phoebe-Rae Taylor), a lady with cerebral palsy. Melody has a pointy thoughts, however on account of her being non-verbal and utilizing a wheelchair, she is just not given the identical educational alternatives as her classmates. However, when an educator notices Melody’s untapped potential, she encourages her to take part in mainstream schooling, of which she has a lot to expertise. 

In the Draper novel, Melody is unable to talk. However, for the display screen, director Amber Sealey solid Taylor (who has cerebral palsy and might vocalize) alongside Jennifer Aniston, who performs Melody’s internal voice and acts because the movie narrator. Sealey hopes to point out audiences that viewers can strategy individuals with disabilities, even when it signifies that the particular person may reply in another way. 

Here, Sealey and Taylor speak to Deadline concerning the significance of incapacity illustration within the media and past.

DEADLINE: How did you go about casting Phoebe-Rae? What made her the right option to play Melody? 

AMBER SEALEY: I imply, every part makes her proper for the function of Melody. I fell in love with Phoebe instantly after I first noticed her video. We had fantastic casting administrators. Paul Schnee [casting director] helped us actually look globally. So, we went past businesses and administration firms. We have been reaching out to CP [cerebral palsy] organizations and other people we knew [that had] CP saying, “Do you know anybody?” So, we went very far and broad. It was a very private outreach. Phoebe had by no means acted earlier than, however she had signed up with a modeling company within the U.Okay., so we noticed her video, and I used to be simply instantly like, “Oh my God. I’m in love with this girl, and I want her to do it.” So, Phoebe and I Zoomed for a lot of months, however I knew instantly that she was the appropriate one.

DEADLINE: Phoebe, do you bear in mind your preliminary response to being came upon you’d been solid?

PHOEBE-RAE TAYLOR: I had simply turned 13. And I bear in mind I by no means actually realized what I used to be getting myself into till I really acquired advised I used to be going to be Melody. And I bear in mind being in complete shock, and I didn’t know what to say as a result of I by no means been in this sort of place ever. 

SEALEY: I’ve a video of after I advised her that she acquired the half, and her dad and mom have been along with her, and all of us cried. It was a particular second.

DEADLINE: Do you bear in mind if you first watched the movie with your loved ones? 

TAYLOR: I bear in mind the primary time I watched it was when Amber really came to visit to England, the place I dwell. And she got here to my home, and we watched it. And I bear in mind after I watched it, I used to be in a bizarre mindset. I didn’t know the place I used to be or what I used to be doing. I had no phrases for what I simply watched. I clearly had excessive expectations for this movie, however not all of that. It was even larger than what I anticipated. It was probably the most bizarre however superb expertise I’ve ever had.

DEADLINE: Amber, what was one thing necessary to you to get throughout in making this movie? 

SEALEY: So many issues. It was actually necessary to me that the character of Melody be simply consultant of that one character, that one particular person. We weren’t making an attempt to talk for all youngsters with CP, all individuals with CP, all individuals with disabilities. One particular person with a incapacity is simply that, one particular person with a incapacity, and that particular person has their very own character and hopes and desires. So, it was actually necessary to me that the character Melody be a really particular 12-year-old lady who simply occurs to have cerebral palsy but in addition has crushes and needs friendships and needs to do effectively in class and all these areas.

And I feel it was that very specificity that hopefully made it extra common. So that was necessary. Authenticity was actually necessary. We had so many fantastic CP consultants all through the method that helped us tremendously. I can’t even rely the variety of ways in which they helped us make it extra genuine and, together with Phoebe herself. We stole from her actual life, for instance, her real love for Jennifer Aniston grew to become the internal voice within the movie. So, it was actually a labor of affection for therefore many individuals the place we stole lots of components from their lives. 

DEADLINE: Phoebe, when did you discover out about Jennifer Aniston being your internal voice and narrator within the movie? 

TAYLOR: I came upon midway by way of taking pictures the movie if I bear in mind accurately. I used to be in my residence in Canada, and my mother screamed, and I went into the kitchen and was like, “What? What?” And she advised me, and I bear in mind uncontrollably sobbing for the entire evening, and I bear in mind I went, “What? This isn’t real.” I believed my mother was joking with me, however I then thought, “What is my life? Could this experience get any better than it did?” It was superb.

DEADLINE: What do you could have in widespread with Melody? How did you relate to her character? 

TAYLOR: I relate to Melody in so some ways, in actually particular methods, in scenes within the movie, and after I first learn the script, I might come throughout these scenes and go, “Oh my God. I’ve had this exact situation happen to me.” Like the scene the place somebody says one thing not very good to her, I’ve had these precise phrases stated to me.

DEADLINE: What do you each hope that audiences get out of this movie? 

TAYLOR: I feel there are such a lot of messages that should be heard, however one of many essential ones for me is simply don’t choose. As straightforward and easy as that. Don’t be so smug and small-minded to have a look at somebody and instantly suppose you realize them. That is actually not the case, and it occurs an excessive amount of. It’s occurred an excessive amount of to me and different individuals, and I simply suppose attending to know somebody earlier than you choose them is necessary as a result of individuals with disabilities are a lot greater than their look or how they sound. They are so extra necessary than what they appear to be, and I feel individuals want to comprehend that.

SEALEY: Phoebe says it so completely. 30% of the United States identifies as having a incapacity. Something like two to three% of protagonists in movie and tv are protagonists with disabilities. The share is even smaller by way of these roles being performed by actors with disabilities. So, disabilities are the biggest minority, and it’s a minority that anyone may grow to be a member of at any level of their life. And so, I hope that this film, in some small method, encourages individuals to cease othering people with disabilities.

People with disabilities are, precisely as Phoebe says, individuals. And I hope the film helps individuals begin to consider taking the time to cease and hear. That if any individual communicates in another way than you do, perhaps they don’t use their voice, perhaps they use AAC, or they use their fingers to speak, however the onus ought to be on us to cease and hear and take the time to really hear what it’s that that particular person has to say. Don’t be so judgmental and never take into consideration an individual with a incapacity as being so solely completely different from you in case your physique strikes in another way or they communicate in another way or talk in another way. Just go up and say hello. Don’t be so afraid.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]