New ABC Show 'Stumptown' Features Character With Down Syndrome
A new drama coming to ABC this fall, “Stumptown,” will feature a regular character with Down syndrome, played by “Born This Way” star Cole Sibus.
“Stumptown” is based on Greg Rucka’s graphic novel series of the same name and follows Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders), a ex-military private investigator with a complicated personal and professional life. Dex’s brother, Ansel Parios (Sibus) has Down syndrome. Sibus is best known for his role on the A&E series “Born This Way” and a role in the film “Spare Room.”
Casting Sibus in the role of Ansel adds important, authentic disability representation to the small screen. According to a Ruderman Family Foundation white paper, though people with disabilities make up nearly 25% of the U.S. population, less than 1% of TV characters had a disability as of 2016. Of those, only 4.5% of disabled characters were played by disabled actors. Disability representation matters because it’s one powerful way the general public develops more positive disability attitudes.
The show was created by Jason Richman produces along with producers Ruben Fleischer and David Bernad. It also stars actors Jake Johnson (“New Girl”), Camryn Manheim (“The Practice”), Adrian Martinez, Tantoo Cardinal and Michael Ealy.
“Stumptown” will premiere Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. You can watch the trailer here:
Header image via ABC/Kailey Schwerman
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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