Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’ reboot isn’t going over too well with the Deaf community over the casting of Nick Andros.
CBS All Access’ reboot of Stephen King’s The Stand is a mostly successful one and feels like an unlikely part of the antidote to this hellish year. However, there’s one group of people that isn’t too thrilled over a casting decision. The Deaf community is calling for a boycott of the Josh Boone-directed limited series, given that the show cast Henry Zaga, a hearing actor, to portray Deaf character (written as “deaf-mute” by King in his novel) Nick Andros, a member of the Boulder Free Zone. The Hollywood Reporter reveals details of a statement from 70 signatories, who are calling the casting decision “not acceptable.” It’s not a new controversy, either, given that (in August 2019) model Nyle DiMarco expressed his anger over the casting of Zaga as Andros, which he believes is continuing evidence that “Hollywood takes pride in diversity to ensure representation & authenticity.., BUT CONTINUES TO EXCLUDE people with disabilities.” At the time, DiMarco said that his attempts at outreach on the issue (which he stated had begun two years prior, because he wanted to circumvent this role going to a hearing actor) went ignored. Fast forward to 2020, and the group of Deaf signatories quoted by THR are calling for a boycott: “We will not endorse, watch, or support your miniseries on CBS All Access. We will share our displeasure of the casting decision and airing of the miniseries on CBS All Access with our Deaf community, signing community, friends, and family of Deaf individuals; together we make up 466 million worldwide.
