GO_RAVENS

One thing that I always enjoyed and admired about your character was that it wasn't based on your disability, but rather it was just a character that had a disability - it was incidental to the larger story. They could have done the lazy thing and just made every scene "look at how hard it is being disabled" or "look at how hard it is to have a disabled son" but I think they did a great job "normalizing" the character's role in the story. The disability was a part of it, but not at all the focus of the character.

This leads me to a few questions:

1) Do you think that the acting industry needs to do more to include disabled people (and other minorities for that matter) in roles that don't depend on that status? I.e. a black actor who isn't just there for the "black guy" perspective or a gay or lesbian whose entire character isn't centered on their being gay.

2) Was the role of Flynn originally intended to be a disabled character, and if so, is that why you auditioned for the part?

3) Do you worry about being unable to find roles in the future that aren't based on your disability? Do you audition for parts that don't specifically call for your disability?

Wait... so you shoot blanks, but you can load live rounds when you want to? (sorry for adding another military pun to the thread)

I think a lot of guys would be jealous of that (you know, only in the context of a monogamous, committed relationship - still need to wear a helmet when in potentially hostile territory ^{sorry I can't help myself).} Well, I hope you can see that as a bit of a silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud.

Thanks for answering my questions. I look forward to you on the screen again. Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

I missed this when it happened. Do you have a link to the Family Guy bit that Stewart was responding to when he called MacFarlane, or can you point me in the right direction to find it?

I'll be in my bunk.