Comedian with cerebral palsy reveals how she made her dream of starring on General Hospital reality

A comedian with cerebral palsy who landed her ‘dream role’ on a soap opera is urging directors and producers to hire more disabled actors instead of ones that are ‘healed on the red carpet’.  

Maysoon Zayid, 45, was born with the motor disability that causes her to limp and to uncontrollably shake.

She said that she was often turned down by directors and producers before she even had a chance to audition for roles, reported Fox News.

Zayid said she didn’t feel like she belonged in Hollywood because actors who portrayed disabled characters were ‘fully healed’ during premieres and award shows. 

However, she went viral after giving a TED Talk – talks about technology, entertainment, and design – in 2014 about how she never let her disability get in the way of her dreams. 

This year, Zayid fulfilled what she called a dream – starring on General Hospital – and says she hopes to inspire other young disabled people struggling to break into the entertainment industry.

The disability causes Xayid to shake and to limp while she walks. Pictured: Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, left, with Zayid at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women 2018, October 2018

Maysoon Zayid, 45 (left and right, with Amal Clooney), was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. The disability causes her to shake and to limp while she walks

Zayid says she was turned down at auditions because of her disability from the moment she walked into a casting room. Pictured: Xayid on stage during Together Live at Town Hall, November 2019

Zayid says she was turned down at auditions because of her disability from the moment she walked into a casting room. Pictured: Xayid on stage during Together Live at Town Hall, November 2019

As an infant, Zayid was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which is the most common motor disability in childhood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It occurs from a brain injury sustained during fetal development or birth, and about 8,000 babies are diagnosed every year.

In a lawsuit, Zayid alleges that she was deprived of oxygen while her mother was in labor, which caused the cerebral palsy, reported Fox News.

Sufferers usually have poor muscle tone, overly tight muscles and problems with balance and coordination.

There is no cure for cerebral palsy, and treatment consists of alleviating the symptoms of those with the condition.  

Zayid shakes all the time and walks with a bit of a limp.

‘I shake it, shake it, shake it like Taylor Swift,’ she told Fox News, in reference to Swift’s song Shake It Off. 

‘But she just wants to shake. And mine is involuntary.’ 

Zayid studied theater at Arizona State University, and moved to New York to pursue and acting career. But said she was turned downed by countless casting directors.

‘I would walk into rooms and people would say: “No, thank you” before I even started talking,’ she said. 

Zayid became a stand-up comedian and went viral giving a TED Talk about living with cerebral palsy in 2014 (pictured)

Zayid became a stand-up comedian and went viral giving a TED Talk about living with cerebral palsy in 2014 (pictured)

After the TED Talk, Zayid (pictured) became a disability advocate who campaigned for more exposure of disabled people in Hollywood

After the TED Talk, Zayid (pictured) became a disability advocate who campaigned for more exposure of disabled people in Hollywood

In 2016, the Ruderman Foundation released an analysis that found that only two percent of TV characters are disabled, despite disabled people accounting for almost 20 percent of the US population.

Of that two percent, 95 percent are played by able-bodied actors and actresses. 

And a report from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism found that 2.4 percent of characters with speaking roles or named in 800 films from 2007 to 2015 were disabled.

‘When I was growing up, anytime I saw disability on TV, those people were healed on the red carpet,’ Zayid told Fox News.

‘And the message to me was either heal myself, which I couldn’t do because I have a permanent disability, or you can never be part of this world because people who are disabled are not allowed to participate.’ 

Which is how Zayid became a stand-up comic. But she says that everything changed when she gave her first TED Talk about her disability in 2014.

‘The talk was translated into 42 languages, so people worldwide were hearing me for the first time and one of the things I realized was that the world has never seen a functional disabled person,’ she said.

In June 2019, Zayid (pictured) was cast in the recurring role of Zahra Amir, an attorney, on the soap opera General Hospital, which she calls a 'dream;

In June 2019, Zayid (pictured) was cast in the recurring role of Zahra Amir, an attorney, on the soap opera General Hospital, which she calls a ‘dream;

Zayid says she wants to inspire other young disabled actors and actresses that they can one day get to where she is

Zayid says she wants to inspire other young disabled actors and actresses that they can one day get to where she is 

Following the talk, she became a disability advocate who campaigned for more exposure of disabled people in Hollywood. 

Since 2016, Zayid said her dream was to appear on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.    

In June 2019, she made her first appearance in the recurring role of Zahra Amir, who is an attorney.

‘The myth is [that] there aren’t talented disabled actors. There are. There are 4,000 of us at least…So the talent exists, but the opportunity doesn’t,’ Zayid told Fox News.

‘On General Hospital, I play a lawyer. She’s not written as disabled. She’s disabled because I am. She limps into the courthouse because I do.”

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