Actor Colin Mochrie, left, and Sean Towgood, centre, in a scene from You’re My Hero.CBC Gem
Is it ever okay to joke about a disability? For most people the answer is a hard no. But for Sean Towgood – a writer and actor with cerebral palsy – finding humour around his condition is a major part of his career.
The second season of Towgood’s show, You’re My Hero, is out now on CBC Gem. Towgood created the program and plays its lead character, Ian. The series draws on exaggerated versions of his real life experiences, pointing to the absurd situations often forced on power chair users, in addition to the day-to-day realities of living as a twentysomething.
“The show being funny gives them an in to my world without beating them over the head with it. I have a perspective and I’m interested in sharing it. But when people are laughing they don’t necessarily know they’re being taught lessons,” said Towgood. “Plus a lot of the things that happen to me pretty regularly would drive me bonkers if I wasn’t able to laugh at them.”
Finding the humour in the show was an important feature for Towgood. With so few parts for disabled actors, their stories are often needlessly maudlin or reduced to what Towgood refers to as “inspiration porn.” You’re My Hero was a chance to introduce a more nuanced character with disabilities, moving beyond the singular dichotomies of pitiful or uplifting.
As Ian, Towgood can be charming and funny. He can also be difficult and irritable. For the actor, creating a more three dimensional character – even in the context of a sitcom – more accurately reflected his own lived experience and that of other colleagues living with disabilities.
“A lot of disability issues are handled by non disabled people. They come in with apprehension, trying to create something that’s tragic or inspirational. But that’s just not what most of my life is like…and I wanted to show it’s okay to joke about a disability as long as someone is comfortable with it. I have this policy in the writer’s room that nothing is off the table as long as it makes us laugh.”
Professional wrestler Chris Jericho, left, and Sean Towgood.CBC Gem
Supporting Towgood is a cast of Canadian comedy heavyweights including Colin Mochrie, Corner Gas’s Tara Spencer-Nairn and Laugh Out Loud’s Ali Hassan. Legendary professional wrestler Chris Jericho joins the show this season, as Ian’s estranged father. For Jericho the role was an opportunity to step into something new as an actor. While You’re My Hero is a comedy through-and-through (and the wrestler has dozens of credits to his name) the father-son relationship offered a kind of dramatic tension he hadn’t experienced before in his acting career.
“It’s such a unique project. We’ve never seen anything like this before on TV,” said Jericho. “It’s a really juicy role. There’s a lot of comedy in it but there’s a lot of darkness and a lot of drama in just who this character is.” Jericho also praised You’re My Hero’s unique point of view. “This is not a show so much about a guy with a disability. It’s a guy who’s just going through life and all the ups and downs that all of us encounter…and it’s elevated by Sean’s perspective.”
Representation comes with a certain level of responsibility, which Sean Towgood is acutely aware of when writing and acting in the show.CBC Gem
That’s a common theme throughout the program. While You’re My Hero hits the same notes as a lot of other sitcoms, the specifics of the situations raised here set the show apart. This season, that means everything from interactions between a disabled character and a sex worker to the challenges of accessible seating. That kind of storytelling is something that rarely – if ever – is shown on television.
Representation comes with a certain level of responsibility, which Towgood is acutely aware of when writing and acting in the show.
“There have been people in the community who have said thanks for making a show that authentically represents my experience. Beyond the lifespan of the show or anything else I do in my career, that’s what I’m most proud of. All I ever wanted was for people to see themselves reflected in media that they hadn’t been reflected in before. I never set out to be the champion of this kind of representation, but I’m so excited to be part of the first wave.”
