Actors who are either D/deaf, have a Visible Disability or Short Stature

In 2006 R.J. Mitte moved to Hollywood, California, with his family to support the foray of his sister, actress Lacianne Carriere, into print and commercial work. For fun, Mitte began training with Los Angeles talent manager Addison K. Witt in Sherman Oaks, Cal. And though many of the actors in the studio were working actors, Mitte was using acting as a means to build friendship with kids his own age while living in a new city. At the encouragement of Witt and talent agent Debra Manners of the Daniel Hoff Agency, Mitte began auditioning for commercials and TV shows like Grey's Anatomy (2005). Mitte tried his hand at background roles and became a regular student on the popular Disney show Hannah Montana (2006), later being romantically linked to the show's iconic star, Miley Cyrus.

Mitte was cast as Walt White Jr., a series regular, and character with cerebral palsy on AMC Network's Breaking Bad (2008). And though Mitte has a mild case of the same condition, he had to do what all actors do: research the character and even relearn many of the challenges he had endured as a child in order to convey a more pronounced version of CP. The Daily Advertiser, a Lafayette, La., newspaper learned of Mitte's work in Hollywood and featured him in an article, noting that R.J. was homegrown, and off to a great start in Hollywood.

Mat Fraser was born on 28 January 1962 in England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Unarmed But Dangerous (2009), American Horror Story (2011) and Helen of Troy (2003). He has been married to Julie Atlas Muz since 6 May 2012.

English actor Warwick Davis was born in Epsom, Surrey, England, the son of Susan J. (Pain) and Ashley Davis, an insurance broker. Davis was born with the condition spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenital (SED), which caused his dwarfism. He was educated at City of London Freemen's School. When he was 11 years old, his grandmother heard a radio appeal for people under four feet tall to appear in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). A huge Star Wars fan, Davis auditioned successfully and was cast as an extra, playing an Ewok. Kenny Baker was cast as lead Ewok Wicket, but fell ill so George Lucas chose Davis to replace him. The film was a smash hit, and Davis went on to reprise his role as Wicket in further TV projects - The Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985).

Davis next big role came with a part specifically written for him, as the titular hero in Willow (1988). Other successes followed with roles in such projects as Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) and two distinctly different film series - the 'Harry Potter' and 'Leprechaun' film series. In 2006, he appeared in a cameo role in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's hit sitcom Extras (2005), which led to the pair writing a series specifically for Davis, the comic mockumentary Life's Too Short (2011).

Davis, along with his father-in-law Peter Burroughs, is also the director of an acting agency for very short and tall actors called Willow Management. He is married to Samantha Davis and they have a son and a daughter.

Ruth Codd was born on 13 June 1996 in Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland. She is an actress, known for The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), The Midnight Club (2022) and How to Train Your Dragon (2025).

Zak was born near Manchester, England in 1999. Starting out as a member of the Summerseat Players Youth Theatre, Zak then became a member of the Manchester Royal Exchange Young Company for two years, before attending the Manchester School of Theatre, graduating in 2020. Zak's professional theatre work includes playing Joseph Merrick in the critically acclaimed touring production of The Real and Imaginary History of the Elephant Man (2023) and various roles in Mark Gatiss' adaptation of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story (2022) at the Nottingham Playhouse and Alexandra Palace. Zak's audio work includes the BBC Radio dramas Letter to Louis and Tinsel Girl, and Zak is the voice of the Thimble series of children's audio books. Zak's on-screen work include titles produced for BBC Studios, Paramount, Netflix, ITV, Sky Drama, Channel 4 and Channel 5, including the BAFTA winning short comedy Mobility (2023), Bridgerton (2020), Better (2023) and The Hardacres (2024) (2024). Zak has cerebral palsy and is an ambulant wheelchair user.

Arthur Hughes is known for Then Barbara Met Alan (2022), The Innocents (2018) and Help (2021).

Peter Dinklage is an American actor. Since his breakout role in The Station Agent (2003), he has appeared in numerous films and theater plays. Since 2011, Dinklage has portrayed Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011). For this role, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (four times) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2011.

Peter Hayden Dinklage was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to Diane (Hayden), an elementary school teacher, and John Carl Dinklage, an insurance salesman. He is of German, Irish, and English descent. In 1991, he received a degree in drama from Bennington College and began his career. His exquisite theater work, which brilliantly expresses the unique range of his acting qualities, includes remarkable performances full of profoundness, charisma, intelligence, sensation, and insights in such plays as "The Killing Act," "Imperfect Love," and Ivan Turgenev's "A Month in the Country," as well as the title roles in William Shakespeare's "Richard III" and in Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya."

Peter Dinklage received acclaim for his first film, Living in Oblivion (1995), in which he played an actor frustrated with the limited and caricatured roles offered to actors who have dwarfism. In 2003, he starred in The Station Agent (2003), written and directed by Tom McCarthy. The movie received critical praise as did Dinklage's work, including nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the Screen Actors Guild and Best Male Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. One of his next roles was as Miles Finch, an acclaimed children's book author, in Elf (2003). Find Me Guilty (2006), the original English Death at a Funeral (2007), its American remake Death at a Funeral (2010), Penelope (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) are also included in his brilliant work concerning feature films.

Dinklage's fine work in television also includes such shows as Entourage (2004), Life as We Know It (2004), Threshold (2005), and Nip/Tuck (2003). In 2011, the primary role of Tyrion Lannister, a man of sharp wit and bright spirit, in Game of Thrones (2011) was incarnated with unique greatness in Dinklage's unparalleled performance. The series is an adaptation of author George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and Dinklage's work in it has received widespread praise, highlighted by his receiving of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards (2011), The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards (2015), The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards (2018), and The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards (2019), as well as of the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Dinklage has voiced, among other characters, Captain Gutt in Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and the Mighty Eagle in The Angry Birds Movie (2016), and starred in the comedy horror film Knights of Badassdom (2013) while his tour de force interpretations as a multifarious chameleon of substantial mastery and artistic generosity also include film and TV gems such as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Three Christs (2017), and I Think We're Alone Now (2018).

Yaeger is a highly respected member of the SAG/AFTRA committee Performers with Disabilities, and advocates for the inclusion of actors with disabilities in roles not specified for disabled characters.

Yaeger is also a former professional X Games athlete. Kurt came back, was the first amputee in the X Games, and the first amputee to successfully pull a backflip, and still rides to this day. Remaining athletic after losing his leg is important so he can play any character at anytime. He ran up the Empire State Building, 86 floors in 20 minutes and 19 seconds; completed multiple 55-mile triathlons; and won several adventure challenges where he's pitting against able body athletes.

Motorcycles are Yaeger's second passion. As an amputee, he hosted the BMW GS Trophy Challenge for several years, and rides motorcycles off-road all around the world: Thailand, Madagascar, the Canadian Rockies, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Europe, and the United States. He works with several motorcycle manufactures and companies to create motorcycle-related content.

Francesca Mills is an actress, most known for portraying a versatile range of memorable TV roles such as Cherry Dorrington in Harlots (2017), Earthy Mangold in Worzel Gummidge (2019) and Meldof in The Witcher: Blood Origin (2022). Francesca Mills was nominated for the 2016 Ian Charleson Award for her performance in Nikolay Gogol's "The Government Inspector" at Birmingham Rep Theatre. Her notable theatre credits, among others, also include Rory Mullarkey's play "Pity" at The Royal Court in 2018, Arthur Miller's "The American Clock" at The Old Vic Theatre in 2019, Francesca Martinez's "All of Us" at the National Theatre of Great Britain in 2022 (National Theatre at Home: All of Us (2022)) and her widely acclaimed interpretation of the title role in John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi" at The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (Shakespeare's Globe) in 2024, as well as her Shakespearean performances at Shakespeare's Globe as The Jailer's Daughter in William Shakespeare's and John Fletcher's "The Two Noble Kinsmen" (Shakespeare's Globe: The Two Noble Kinsmen (2018)) and as Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 2023. For her aforementioned performance as Hermia, Francesca Mills was also honored with first prize at the 2024 Ian Charleson awards.

S. Robert Morgan is known for The Wire (2002), Luke Cage (2016) and Literary Visions (1992).

Amy Trigg grew up in Essex, England. She was the first wheelchair user to graduate from a performance course at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Her acting credits include work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe, The Stephen Joseph Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse, BBC and Universal. As a writer, Amy's first full length play 'Reasons You Should(n't) Love Me' was joint winner of the inaugural Women's Prize for Playwriting 2020 (Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough) and premiered at the Kiln Theatre in May 2021.

Nadia Albina is known for Whites (2010), Doctors (2000) and Beautiful People (2008).

Alison Halstead identifies as a performer, working in TV, film, theatre, circus, and voice-over. She is known for her role as Maker Keeper in Dune 2 (2024) and as Pearline in Amazon Prime's spy thriller, Citadel (2023). Working in theatre for many decades, her most-recent theatre credit was opposite Sir Ian McKellen in Hamlet. As an Associate Artist of Mimbre (women/non-binary acrobatic company), she was a featured performer in the Dior Dream Parade, for Christian Dior's Spring-Summer 2019 show. Alison's voice can be heard in multiples roles in the hit video game Cyberpunk 2077.

Rose Ayling-Ellis was born on 17 November 1994 in Shepway, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Code of Silence (2025), Reunion (2025) and Doctor Who (2023).

David Proud was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. He is an actor, writer, and director known for EastEnders (1985), Marcella (2016) and Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007). In December 2020 David joined the core writing team of Coronation Street (1960). David was named as a BAFTA Breakthrough Artist for 2021.

David was born with a condition called Spina Bifida and uses a wheelchair.

Marlee Beth Matlin was born on August 24, 1965 in Morton Grove, Illinois, to Libby (Hammer) and Donald Matlin, an automobile dealer. She has two older brothers. Her family is of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent.

Marlee lost much of her hearing at the age of eighteen months. That did not stop her from acting in a children's theater company at age seven; she was Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz". Her deafness never held her back. As an adult, she said it so eloquently: "I have always resisted putting limitations on myself, both professionally and personally." Marlee studied criminal justice at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, and maintained her passion for acting after graduating. While performing on stage through Chicago and the Midwest, Marlee attracted notice for her performance in a production of the Tony Award-winning play "Children of a Lesser God" and was cast in the movie version Children of a Lesser God (1986). Although this was her movie debut, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. While shooting her next movie Walker (1987), in Nicaragua, large-hearted Marlee took time to visit both hearing and hearing-impaired children. She continued this tradition of visiting local children through her travels to Germany, England, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Canada, etc.

Her interest in the criminal justice field played a role in her on screen career; she portrayed an assistant D.A. on the television series Reasonable Doubts (1991), while off screen she married police officer Kevin Grandalski on August 29, 1993. The couple has four children: Sarah (born 1996), Brandon (born 2000), Tyler (born 2002), and Isabelle (born 2003). In 1994, Marlee was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance as Laurie Bey on the television series Picket Fences (1992). Marlee is also a spokeswoman for the National Captioning Institute. In 1995, she testified at a congressional hearing and helped get a law passed that requires all television sets 13 inches or larger to be manufactured with built-in chips to provide closed captioning on their screens; this was a godsend for deaf viewers.

Marlee serves as the national spokeswoman for the largest provider of television closed captioning, and has spoken on behalf of CC in countries such as Australia, England, France and Italy. She also serves on the boards of a number of charitable organizations, including Very Special Arts, the Starlight Foundation, and other charities that primarily benefit children. As someone who loves children so much, it is only fitting that she has four of her own. Professionally, Marlee has even tried producing, being the executive producer for Where the Truth Lies (1999).

Melissa Johns was born on 21 June 1990 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for The Interceptor (2015), Adolescence (2025) and Grantchester (2014).

Ruth Madeley was born on 4 August 1987 in Westhoughton, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Don't Take My Baby (2015), The Rook (2019) and Nightsleeper (2024).

Millicent (Millie) Simmonds is a BAFTA nominated American actress from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania best known for Wonderstruck (2017), A Quiet Place (2018), A Quiet Place Part II (2020), and Helen & Teacher. She made her Broadway debut in 2023 starring opposite Laurie Metcalf in Levi Holloway's Grey House, directed by Joe Mantello.

Millicent originally hails from Bountiful, Utah, and grew up performing and telling stories in American Sign Language. A self-described class clown, at the age of nine Millicent joined the drama club at her elementary school, where she fell in love with acting, playing Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2016 her drama teacher received an email with a casting call looking for a Deaf actress for the part of Rose in a film adaption of Brian Selznick's award-winning novel Wonderstruck. She quickly thought of Millie and encouraged her to try out. Millie, then twelve, sent in a one-take audition that brought the film's director Todd Haynes to tears, winning her what would become a stunning breakout role. Millicent and Wonderstruck debuted at Cannes and the New York Film Festival. She was named one of the Breakthrough Entertainers of 2017 by AP, and Time Magazine listed Rose as one of the Top 10 Movie Performances of the year. Millicent landed her next major film role as Regan Abbott in John Krasinski's horror-thriller A Quiet Place, working alongside Emily Blunt and Noah Jupe. Krasinski was adamant about casting a Deaf actress to play Regan, wanting to use accurate, researched American Sign Language with the help of Deaf ASL experts and advisers including Douglas Ridloff. Her experiences became resources and inspiration for the script, story, and sound design, and the film received an Oscar nomination in the latter category. A Quiet Place was a surprise critical darling, debuting at the South By Southwest Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation. In 2017, Millicent became the first Deaf actor nominated for a Critics' Choice Award with her work in Wonderstruck. She was nominated a second time only a year later, in 2018, for her critically acclaimed performance in A Quiet Place. In 2021, Millicent's reprisal of the character Regan in A Quiet Place's sequel outing earned her a historic BAFTA Rising Star nomination and the coveted Chainsaw Award. In 2021 Millicent took a major creative leap when she announced she would be both producing and starring as Charlie Serrano in an adaptation of the New York Times Best Selling novel True Biz Project by Sara Novíc. Millicent's prolific career has opened the door for new, authentic representations of Deaf American culture and the wider disability community in film, TV, and media. Millicent is one of five siblings and loves to spend time with her family and friends. An avid reader and writer, she enjoys the outdoors, rock music, spoon collecting, painting, and riding her motorcycle. She hopes to continue acting, writing, and filmmaking for as long as she can.

Tom Mothersdale is known for Overlord (2018), Wolf Hall (2015) and Culprits (2023).

Having grown up in Cambridgeshire and excelled at drama in school, Robinson went on to enroll as a Philosophy Undergraduate at the University of Birmingham, before putting his studies on hold after successfully auditioning for his breakout role as troublemaker Isaac, in Series 2 of the hugely popular show Sex Education, which launched on Netflix in January 2019.

Robinson quickly became popular with fans of the show for his portrayal of the playful, sarcastic Isaac, who, with his brother Joe, moves into the caravan park where Maeve lives. Masking his insecurities and a developing crush on Maeve with his razor-sharp wit and mischievous pranking, he soon becomes entangled in a love triangle with Maeve and Otis, throwing up some challenging moral decisions for Isaac.

Isaac was also Sex Education's first disabled, series regular, character, which emphasized the show's fresh approach to depicting a multiplicity of characters, backgrounds and stories.

Robinson was paralyzed in an accident during a school rugby match in South Africa in 2015, at the age of 17.

Jenna Bainbridge is a NYC based actor and disability rights advocate. She is best known for her work on Broadway where she was the first wheelchair user to originate a role in a new musical in Suffs in 2024. She then went on to be the first wheelchair user to play Nessarose in Wicked on Broadway. In addition to acting, Jenna is also the Co-Founder of ConsultAbility, a consulting company that works with theatre companies to make their spaces more accessible for disabled artists, employees, and audiences through disability-inclusion training and accessibility plans to make theatre spaces more accessible.

Jenna became paralyzed suddenly at 16 months of age, the cause of the paralysis has never been identified. She is now an ambulatory wheelchair user, so she is able to walk (with a noticeable limp), but also utilizes a wheelchair, crutches, or a cane as-needed.

Bridie McKim is known for Gimpsey (2016), The Heights (2019) and Bump (2021).

Annabelle Davis is known for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and The Dumping Ground (2013).

Liz grew up in Bebington, England where she lived until she went to Nottingham University in 1990 to study law. After graduating with an LLB in Law, she volunteered in a law centre and became a campaigner for civil rights for Disabled people in the UK and internationally. It wasn't until 2000 that she began to tread the boards when she co-founded the comedy group, Nasty Girls. In 2003, Liz studied performing arts with Graeae Theatre Company and London Met University and played the eponymous 'Mother Courage' in the final touring production. Following this, Liz was part of the first ever Disabled women's reading of 'The Vagina Monologues', took to the main stage at The Young Vic theatre, London in another Brecht, 'The Exception and the Rule' and then toured with the Graeae production of Moliere's 'George Dandin' the following year.

Liz's first job with the BBC was as a columnist for the website Ouch! before becoming co-host with American Horror Story (2011) actor, Mat Fraser, of the infamous Ouch podcast. In 2005 she joined the comedy group Abnormally Funny People and her stand up debut with them was filmed for a documentary on Sky TV. She was a finalist in the Funny Women competition 2006 and in 2007 she was runner up in the Hackney Empire New Act competition. She has taken 6 shows to Edinburgh Fringe, 2 shows to Melbourne Comedy Festival, toured all over the world with her comedy, her cabaret and with her one woman show, 'It Hasn't Happened Yet'. She wrote the book and lyrics for her show, 'Assisted Suicide The Musical' which she performed to sell out audiences at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 2016 and 2017.

On screen, Liz is perhaps best known for her role as forensic examiner Clarissa Mullery in the BBC's long running drama, Silent Witness (1996) alongside Emilia Fox, David Caves and Richard Lintern. She joined the series in 2012 but almost missed out on the role when she got stuck in traffic and turned up too late for the audition. This was Liz's first TV acting role and over the next seven series, her character Clarissa has grown from a sidekick to a main part of the regular cast.