‘Wicked’ Star Marissa Bode Calls Out “Very Gross and Harmful Comments” About Her Character’s Disability
Wicked star Marissa Bode is calling out some “very gross,” “harmful” and “aggressive” comments she’s heard about Nessarose’s disability since the Jon M. Chu musical movie adaptation hit theaters on Nov. 22.
The actress took to TikTok on Friday to share a five-minute video (below), sharing her thoughts on the “uncomfortable” things that have been circulating online about the character. As a person with disabilities who has a platform, she wants to use it to bring attention to what she has read.
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“It is absolutely OK to not like a fictional character,” she said. “I am going to be admitting my bias in the way that I have a lot of different feelings on Nessa than a lot of you do, and that’s totally fine. I think Nessa is complex, but that’s the beauty of art. Wicked and these characters and the movie wouldn’t be what it was if there weren’t different opinions on the characters and who’s truly wicked or not.”
She noted that she is a “deeply” unserious person, who loves jokes that are silly, goofy and harmless. So jokes about Nessa’s actions or personality are fine because she’s fictional. However, jokes about her disability are “deeply uncomfortable.”
“Disability is not fictional,” Bode continued. “At the end of the day, me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair. So, it is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking.”
A lot of the comments, the actress explained, are coming from non-disabled strangers with a punchline revolving around not being able to walk, giving a sense of laughing at someone and not laughing with them. But the most frustrating thing for Bode, she said, is that she feels scared to talk or post about things like this.
“This goes so far beyond me, Marissa, just needing to ignore comments on the internet,” she stated. “These comments do not exist in a vacuum. Aggressive comments of wanting to cause harm and push Nessa out of her wheelchair, or that she deserves her disability, are two very gross and harmful comments that real disabled people, including myself, have heard before.”
The actress admitted that she’s also scared because she has seen firsthand what has happened to her peers who are disabled and have called out ableism but are told to “just take a joke” or “stop complaining.” They have had to take steps back from content creation for their mental well-being, which is not OK, she said.
Bode encouraged people to stop dismissing each other when they don’t think an experience can be true because they haven’t gone through it themselves. She acknowledged that, thankfully, she’s at a place in her life where she recognizes that jokes about disability “are made out of ignorance.”
“It would have affected younger me a lot more, and I’m worried that a younger version of myself is somewhere on the internet and is harmed by these comments,” she continued. “I do know and have seen, not in this specific instance, but similar comments be made on my disabled peers and disabled creators’ videos to the point where, again, it runs them off the internet. That’s not good. Please be kind.”
Bode concluded, “Lastly, I want to say one of the major themes within Wicked is having the ability to listen and to understand one another. And I truly hope that is something a lot of you can practice more and take with you.”
Since hitting theaters, part one of the big-screen remake of the musical has broken several records, including the biggest box office opening for a Broadway musical adaptation. Wicked: Part Two is set to be released on Nov. 21, 2025.
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