Disabled Actress Liz Carr to Star in Upcoming Mark Wahlberg Thriller 'Infinite'
In a win for authentic representation, an upcoming thriller starring Mark Wahlberg titled “Infinite” will feature disabled actress Liz Carr in her first blockbuster movie role.
Carr is best known for her role as forensic examiner Clarissa Mullery on the BBC series “Silent Witness.” She took the role in 2012 and recently filmed her final episodes of the series. She has arthrogryposis multiplex congenita and uses a wheelchair, and said at first, the BBC wasn’t sure how to incorporate a disabled actor on set.
“I think over the eight years I’ve kind of policed the show quite a lot and worked to make sure it was better and refused to say certain lines that I thought were problematic,” Carr told the BBC. “I was asked recently if I was proud of what we achieved in terms of representation in ‘Silent Witness.’ Oh, my goodness, of course I am.”
Carr advocated for herself and her character, which led to additional authentic disability representation on screen. “I’m not sure if you know how truly momentous it is to have disabled actors on tv, nevermind more than 1 of us at a time,” Carr recently tweeted after an episode of “Silent Witness” featured three disabled characters played by actors with disabilities.
In last weeks #SilentWitness, the baddie was played by @mat_fraser. This week the cop is played by @janejanes I’m not sure if you know how truly momentous it is to have disabled actors on tv, nevermind more than 1 of us at a time! Good actors. Great show. More tonight @BBCOne 9pm https://t.co/n31SmTfC9n
— Liz Carr (@thelizcarr) January 21, 2020
Titled “Infinite,” the film is based off the novel “The Reincarnationist Papers” by D. Eric Maikranz where a man discovers his hallucinations are really memories of a past life. The movie version of the action thriller is directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Wahlberg along with Dylan O’Brien, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jason Mantzoukas, among others.
In an Instagram post, Wahlberg described “Infinite” as a “high-concept, ORIGINAL action thriller…it’s a classic story of good vs. evil with an epic twist.”
According to IMDB, Carr will play a character named Garrick. Though little is known about her role as of yet, during an episode of the BBC Ouch! Podcast, Carr revealed her surprise at being cast. She highlighted that authentic representation — casting disabled actors as disabled characters — still isn’t the norm in Hollywood.
“It’s a great role. I’m ecstatic,” Carr said. “The audition went brilliantly, but I thought, ‘I bet you they’re just going to audition wheelchair users and then they’re going to give the role to Tom Cruise’.”
and now that’s led to a 47 year old wheelchair using disabled woman being in a big blockbuster? I mean, I can’t really get my head around it but what I know is it’s really easy to get us up there & in stuff if the will is there! Thank you x
— Liz Carr (@thelizcarr) February 6, 2020
“Infinite” is slated for release on Aug. 7. In addition to her upcoming role in “Infinite,” she will be featured in a monologue in Mat Fraser’s upcoming series for BBC America titled “Disability Monologues.” She also filmed an episode of the BBC family history show BBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?”
Header image via Twitter
Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.
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