Marissa Bode, a star of the film “Wicked,” has recently voiced her disapproval of the negative and offensive remarks aimed at her character Nessarose’s disability. She described these comments as “hurtful,” “distasteful,” and “destructive.”
In a TikTok video that lasted five minutes, which was posted on a recent Friday, Bode expressed her thoughts about the insensitive remarks being shared online about Nessarose, who is Elphaba’s (Cynthia Erivo) younger sister. Bode, who is a wheelchair user both on and off the screen, said, “It’s perfectly fine to dislike a fictional character. I’m going to confess my bias here – my feelings about Nessa are different from many of yours, and that’s perfectly okay. Nessa is a complex character, but that’s the beauty of art. ‘Wicked’ and its characters would not be what they are if there weren’t differing views on who is truly wicked or not. It’s okay not to like Nessa herself because she is a fictional character.”
Bode, who identified herself as a “profoundly not serious person,” stated she doesn’t mind “funny, foolish, harmless” comments about Nessarose’s personality or actions, emphasizing that this is because Nessarose is a fictional character from “Wicked.” However, she strongly condemned the “aggressive” comments and jokes about Nessarose’s disability, calling them “deeply unsettling.”
“Disability is not fictional,” she continued. “At the end of the day, I, Marissa, am still the person who is disabled and in a wheelchair. And so, it is simply low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable plucking.”
She noted that she’s heard many ableist jokes not only about Nessarose but also about herself. “Before even being cast in ‘Wicked,’ I received comments — just as Marissa, not Nessa — around the phrases ‘stand up for yourself,’ ‘I guess you can’t stand him,’ etc.,” she said. “These comments aren’t original, and when these jokes are made by non-disabled strangers with a punchline of not being able to walk, it very much feels like they are laughing at me rather than with me.”
“This goes far beyond me, Marissa, just needing to ignore comments on the internet. 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.”
Bode urged viewers of “Wicked” not to dismiss each other and to stop “claiming an experience can’t be true because you personally don’t feel that way about a joke that wouldn’t have affected your demographic anyway.”
She continued, “Listen to the people or person it is affecting and how it makes them feel. Thankfully, I’m at a place in my life today where I can recognize these jokes about disability are made out of ignorance. I couldn’t say the same about Marissa 10 years ago, and it would have affected a 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.”
Bode concluded the video by saying, “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.”
Bode is the first wheelchair user in “Wicked’s” history to play Nessarose. In an interview with Variety, the actor spoke about adding more dimension to the character through the film adaptation’s two-part structure. (“Wicked: Part Two” arrives on the big screen on Nov. 21, 2025.)
“Obviously, it’s a beautiful musical and I love the stage musical, but you don’t really get to see little moments in the bond between the two sisters very much, or just their love for one another. You get to see that more in the film,” she explained. “And I think that’s really important, because it makes what happens in the second film all the more devastating. It humanizes Nessa as a character, and shows how much she cares about people. I think it was a great decision.”
Credit: variety.com
