Wicked star denounces ‘aggressive’ and ‘deeply uncomfortable’ comments about character’s disability

Marissa Bode, who stars as Elphaba’s younger sister Nessarose, uses a wheelchair just like her character

Wicked star Marissa Bode has condemned social media users who have made her and her character’s disability the butt of the joke.

The 24-year-old actor stars as Nessarose, the spoiled younger sister of Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo). In the movie, she uses a wheelchair just like in real life.

Taking to TikTok on Friday (November 29), Bode posted a five-minute video calling out people for making “aggressive” and “deeply uncomfortable” comments about both her and her character.

In the caption, she wrote: “Representation is important but that’s not the only thing that will save the disabled community. I need a lot of y’all (non-disabled people) to do the work. To dissect and unlearn your own ableism. Listen to disabled people. Follow other disabled people outside of just me. Read up on the disability rights movement/watch the documentary Crip Camp! I understand no one likes feeling like they’re being scolded. But true progress never comes with comfort. And that’s ok.”

Beginning the video, she acknowledged that “it is absolutely OK to not like a fictional character. I am going to be admitting my bias in the way that I have a lot of different feelings on Nessa than a lot of you do, and that’s totally fine. I think Nessa is complex, but that’s the beauty of art. Wicked and these characters and the movie wouldn’t be what it was if there weren’t different opinions on the characters and who’s truly wicked or not. And not liking Nessa herself is OK. Because she is fictional, that’s totally fine.”

She went on to say that while she herself is a “deeply unserious person” who enjoys the occasional “silly, goofy, harmless” joke, it’s not ok to make “aggressive comments and jokes about Nessa’s disability itself.”

“It’s deeply uncomfortable because disability is not fictional,” Bode said. “At the end of the day, me — Marissa — is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair. And so, it is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking.”

Marissa Bode stars as Elphaba’s wheelchair-using younger sister Nessarose in ‘Wicked’ (Universal Pictures)

She noted to those who were curious about the comments she was referring to that she had deleted most of them already.

“Before even being cast in Wicked, I had received comments — just as me, as Marissa, not Nessa — around the words of ‘stand up for yourself,’ ‘I guess you can’t stand him,’ et cetera,” she said. “These comments aren’t original, and when these jokes are being made by non-disabled strangers with a punchline of not being able to walk, it very much feels like laughing at rather than laughing with.”

She continued: “This goes so 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 admitted that she was “scared” to post the video because “I have seen what has happened to my disabled peers who are outspoken online when it comes to calling out ableism and jokes [about] standing and being a vegetable — which is a derogatory term.”

“They’re told to just take a joke, and that they’re asking for too much, and to stop complaining,” she said.

“Listen to the people or to the person that 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,” Bode added. “I couldn’t say the same about Marissa 10 years ago, and it would have affected 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 makes history as the first wheelchair user to play Nessarose in a Wicked adaptation.

“Representation for me after becoming physically disabled was slim to none basically,” she said in afeaturette. “The fact that they are casting a disabled actor in Wicked, I think, is so important.”

Wicked — Part One is out in theaters now. Part Two will be released on November 21, 2025.