'Wicked' star Marissa Bode slams ableist jokes about Nessarose: 'Deeply uncomfortable'

Marissa Bode is speaking out against ableist comments about her "Wicked" character.

The actress, who plays Nessarose in the blockbuster film based on the Broadway musical, said in a TikTok video she is uncomfortable with jokes that have been made online about the character's disability. Bode, 24, is the first wheelchair user to be cast as Elphaba's (Cynthia Erivo) younger sister.

"Aggressive comments and 'jokes' about Nessa's disability itself (are) deeply uncomfortable because disability is not fictional," she said. "At the end of the day, me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair, and so it is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking."

She went on to say, "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."

Nessarose plays a key role in the Broadway musical on which the "Wicked" film is based, especially during the second act. In the movie, the first in a two-part adaptation, she develops a connection with Boq (Ethan Slater), a Munchkin, and shares a dance with him.

In her TikTok, Bode said she has been receiving online comments "with a punchline of not being able to walk," which feel like "laughing at, rather than laughing with."

She reflected that the most "frustrating part" of the situation is "how scared" she is to speak out about the comments, noting she was "literally shaking a little bit" while recording the video.

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"I have seen firsthand what has happened to my disabled peers who are outspoken online when it comes to calling out ableism," she continued.

She said she faced criticism for her disability before she was cast in "Wicked" and made the video to speak to her younger self of a decade ago and others who might be as vulnerable as she was then.

Bode encouraged those who dismiss her criticism to listen to people who are affected by the jokes, and she concluded by tying the video into the themes of "Wicked," a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" that paints a sympathetic portrait of the Wicked Witch of the West.

"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," she said.

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The actress received many positive comments on her TikTok, with one user writing, "As a girl that's also disabled. Thank you for bringing this up." Another replied, "I'm so sorry that this even has to be said."

Bode started performing on stage when she was 8 and continued to do so after she was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident when she was 11.

"It almost seemed a bit strange to me that a lot of people were like, 'Oh, she never gave up!'" Bode recently told USA TODAY. "My thought was always like, 'Well, why would I?'"

"I think a lot of that is people's perception of disability as an inhibitor, which I never really did see it that way. Rather than looking at somebody with a disability and thinking they can't do something, it's about creating spaces and saying, 'You’re welcome here.'"

Bode will reprise Nessarose in "Wicked: Part Two," which hits theaters in November 2025.

Contributing: Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marissa Bode, 'Wicked' star, slams jokes about Nessarose's disability