Tatiana Lee: Disability, Visibility, and Diversity
Episode Description:
Tatiana is an actress, writer, model and disability rights advocate.
Learn more about Tatiana here:
Transcript:
Anya Adams (00:00):
Hey, welcome to Sista Brunch with me, Anya Adams.
Fanshen Cox (00:16):
And me, Fanshen Cox. We're continuing to talk to black women plus who are kicking and taking names and entertainment. Yes, yes. And today we have the freaking lovely Tatiana Lee. I'm so excited. Okay. Tatiana is an award-winning actress and an international model. Y'all got to get on her Instagram page.
Anya Adams (00:38):
Okay.
Fanshen Cox (00:38):
You will see this gorgeous woman. She quickly has also become a sought after speaker for brands like Apple, Bank of America, Human Rights Watch, and the LA Film Festival, which unfortunately is not around anymore.
Tatiana Lee (00:51):
I know.
Fanshen Cox (00:51):
But I'm so glad that they are lucky that got you in while they were running because it was such a great festival. And in 2018, she was a recipient of the Reeves Acting Scholarship from the Christopher and Dana Reeves foundation-
Anya Adams (01:06):
Oh my god, that's so cool.
Fanshen Cox (01:06):
... for her contribution to further disability inclusion in film and media. Now, homegirl is a major influencer and she has spinal bifida. So she serves as a Hollywood inclusion associate at Respectability, which is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to fight stigmas and advance opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of the community. She consults on all kinds of TV and film projects. She conducts trainings for studios and production companies, and they are so lucky to have you, and they still got to do better, but we'll get into that.
Tatiana Lee (01:42):
We're getting there. We're getting there,
Anya Adams (01:45):
Yeah.
Fanshen Cox (01:48):
Including NBC, Universal, Netflix, the Walt Disney company, and she assists with Respectability's lab for entertainment professionals with disabilities. Welcome to Sista Brunch-
Anya Adams (01:57):
Welcome, welcome.
Fanshen Cox (01:59):
... Tatiana Lee.
Anya Adams (02:01):
We are so, so happy to have you.
Tatiana Lee (02:04):
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. I'm such a fan of your guys' show.
Anya Adams (02:04):
Oh, thank you.
Tatiana Lee (02:08):
And when you asked me to be a guest, I was more than thrilled and just honored.
Anya Adams (02:14):
Oh my gosh. How we like to really typically start is to talk about how you as the fabulous Tatiana Lee, who is now a model actress and award winner came to be in this place. Will you talk a little bit about your journey from wanting to do gymnastics? I was watching a little video on you earlier, wanting to do gymnastics and ballet and your mom saying, "You can't do that." And you just saying, "F that I'm doing it." So tell us.
Tatiana Lee (02:42):
Oh my gosh. So I was born with spina bifida. So I've had a disability, my entire life. That's the only life I know. And I was just that kid, that anything you told me I couldn't do, it was like, "No." I wanted to do it. And I think, I didn't realize until I got to be a little bit older and go to school that I was different. I didn't think I was different. I thought everyone was like me. I thought that was just how I was. And so it was quite interesting, but I remember being seven years old and actually my mom bought me a Polaroid camera. And the first thing I did was organize a photo shoot in my front yard.
Anya Adams (03:19):
Oh my god, I love it.
Tatiana Lee (03:21):
And I still have that photo-
Anya Adams (03:22):
Oh my goodness.
Tatiana Lee (03:22):
... I had on a denim outfit with like polka dots. But at that moment, I knew that I wanted a career in front of the camera. And that was just something that was naturally embedded in me. I just had this personality about me. And actually I was visiting family and my cousin, she says, "I'm so proud of everything that you are doing." And she says, "You remember, when you were a little girl, you kept telling us you were going to be a star. 'I'm going to be a star.'" And then she said, "Do you remember that?" I said, "No." She says, "We knew you were going to be something." She's like, "Everybody's somebody," she was like, "But Tati, you are somebody."
And so, yeah, moving forward from there, always wanting to model and act and just be in front of the camera. And then as a kid with a disability, I was actually born with severely deformed feet. And so I spent a lot of time in the hospital, having surgeries. I've dealt with so many different illnesses. I've had meningitis like three or four times.
Anya Adams (04:21):
Oh my goodness.
Tatiana Lee (04:23):
I've spent a lot of time in the hospital. And what do you do when you're in the hospital? You read magazines and you watch TV and movies and things like that. And so, I consumed a lot of that and really immerse myself in pop culture to escape the things I was dealing with having spinal bifida. And one of the things that I quickly realized is that I wasn't reflected. I could not see myself in any of that. I barely saw women of color. I mean, I had like the Tyra Banks and the Brandies and the Monicas, and that, I grew up in that generation. But even when I did have them, they weren't disabled.
Anya Adams (04:23):
Right.
Tatiana Lee (05:02):
So I couldn't identify with that. I didn't know. They didn't walk on crutches. They weren't in wheelchairs. So I didn't feel fully reflected. And I realized how much that influenced how I felt about myself. And so, that really shaped everything for me, how I felt about myself. But I knew I wanted a career in front of the camera because I always thought to myself, "Why aren't people with disabilities in advertising? Why people with disabilities aren't in film and TV?" And you don't see it. And if you do see it, it's this sad, horrible story. And you know, most of the time they're white and so, I never had anything I could relate to.
Fanshen Cox (05:43):
So you, you knew from the beginning that you were going to be both an advocate and an actor/model, that was always part of your path?
Tatiana Lee (05:52):
I never thought I would be an advocate or an activist. I used to think with disabilities just didn't want to be in entertainment.
Fanshen Cox (06:00):
Oh, wow.
Anya Adams (06:02):
Wow.
Fanshen Cox (06:03):
Yeah. Okay. That's what that message is.
Tatiana Lee (06:05):
I just thought they didn't have anybody. I honestly thought when I was a kid, I was the only one. I honestly believed that.
Fanshen Cox (06:14):
Wow.
Tatiana Lee (06:15):
And so, I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, in the country, suburban area, like literally Amish town. And I wanted to act and model, and I would try to work with photographers in the city. I wasn't that far from Philadelphia. And I would try to hide my disability so they would want to work with me. And I would take photos of just my face and they would say to me, "Oh my gosh, you're gorgeous. And I want to shoot with you."
But then before, I would try to have this conversation of, "Oh yes, I have a disability. I walk on crutches," or, "I'm paralyzed." And then soon as I would mention that, because once I got there, they would know either way I couldn't hide it, they would not want to work with me. And I would literally have people laugh at me and tell me that that was something I couldn't accomplish. No one was ever going to want to see a black girl with a disability model for them. You know, people would encourage me to work in PR or be a manager or something like that because I was really good at marketing and branding. I actually went to college and majored in business marketing because at the time, I wanted to learn how to interject disability into pop culture norms.
Fanshen Cox (07:24):
Oh, goodness yes.
Tatiana Lee (07:26):
I had that business mindset. But just to try to get people to work with me and to put myself in front of the camera was just so hard. And I had a hard time throughout my life. It affected so much. It affected my high school education, college, dating. Just, my disability affected so much of my life. I was encouraged in 10th grade to drop out. So I actually never finished high school, when I was in 10th grade. I think by that time I had meningitis like two times in the beginning of that year, I had pretty much missed the whole first half of school that year. And so they sat my mom and I down and said, "W don't know how to help you. We don't think you're going to be able to get enough credits in time to graduate. So our best option for you is to drop out."
Anya Adams (08:16):
Wow.
Fanshen Cox (08:17):
As opposed to, "We change our system to accommodate you."
Tatiana Lee (08:21):
Exactly.
Fanshen Cox (08:21):
Which is what your point is with Hollywood, right? "We change our system to make sure everybody's included." Versus, "You're the one who has to lose out."
Tatiana Lee (08:30):
Exactly. And just so many barriers to entry of just having access to education, employment. So many different things. There's so many barriers for people with disabilities and it's just a huge problem. But where does that all start from? It all starts from how people view us in the media.
Fanshen Cox (08:52):
Hey, it's Fanshen and you're listening to Sista Brunch. Stay tuned and we will be right back.
Anya Adams (09:17):
We're back to our conversation with actress model and disability advocate, Tatiana Lee.
Fanshen Cox (09:24):
So when you did finally start getting work, what were the initial jobs that you got? What were those like?
Tatiana Lee (09:32):
So, fast forward, I came to LA and the first thing I did was people always told me, "It's not about what you know, it's about who you know." And that was important. So, "Get out there and network." And what happened was the first thing, people would invite me to places to network, it literally was not wheelchair accessible.
Anya Adams (09:55):
Oh, gosh.
Tatiana Lee (09:56):
When people say I figuratively could not get in the room, it wasn't that I didn't know people that wouldn't invite me. It was that I literally, physically could not get into the room.
Fanshen Cox (10:05):
Wow.
Tatiana Lee (10:06):
Because it wasn't wheelchair accessible. And so that was a huge barrier to meeting people. So it was like, here I am dropped in Hollywood. I thought when I got here, I thought Hollywood was going to be so progressive, accessibility wasn't going to be an issue. And I'm like, "You just got a great bubbly personality. People are just going to book you and it's going to be a breeze." And that is genuinely what I thought.
And I got here and I said, "Wait, it's not that people with disabilities don't want to work in the entertainment industry, it's that they literally don't have access to it." So what are we to do? And I would do like crazy things. I would I've dragged my chair up steps to go audit an acting class.
Fanshen Cox (10:49):
Wow.
Tatiana Lee (10:51):
I've had events bring the party downstairs to me or have ushers or people that are available drag me or carry my chair up steps and different things like that. And what I started doing was blogging about it and writing about it. Because I literally couldn't get into the room and I'm like, people need to know that this is a problem. And so I started blogging about it and that's where my lifestyle brand, Accessible Hollywood started. And it was just me sharing my journey.
And from there, I would submit myself for different things and I wouldn't get anything back, people wouldn't really respond to me. So I said, "You know what, I'm just going to create my own lane and just see what happens." And so, one of my really good friends, who she had an interest in photography, she got her camera and I would just buy outfits and we would just take photos and I would tag the company and I just took it to Instagram and I started taking photos and then it started really growing. And then I started getting a following. Then, after that, it got the attention of a little brand called Apple.
Anya Adams (12:00):
Can I just ask you one quick question? You're busting your to try and get in the room. How are you surviving?
Tatiana Lee (12:05):
So that was where my activism came in.
Anya Adams (12:05):
Okay.
Tatiana Lee (12:08):
So I started being an activist and just speaking up for this very issue of lack of accessibility and inclusion in entertainment through my blog, Accessible Hollywood. And I started being invited to speaking on panels from Apple, that was when I did the panel for LA Film Festival and a couple of other different brands invited me to talk because I just started being very vocal about it. From there, I met the organization that I work for now, Respectability.
Respectability started doing this work and they needed someone that had the capacity to do the consulting and had the experience of knowing how to read scripts, knowing how to tell what is abelist and not abelist and things like that. And so I was able to, was literally offered a full-time position within their Hollywood inclusion department.
Anya Adams (12:54):
Awesome.
Tatiana Lee (12:55):
Lauren Applebaum started it and she says, "I want to do this work, but I need a partner to do it with." And so that has been my full-time job because every working actor usually waits tables or bartends-
Anya Adams (13:07):
Right.
Tatiana Lee (13:08):
I'm a wheelchair user. I can't do that. No bar or restaurant is going to hire me. Let's be real. And so that has literally been able to sustain me. So I'm able to do that full time to be able to afford to live and all of that. And then self care wise, weekends are my weekends and I shut my phone off on the weekend. And it's all about self care. Well, before the pandemic, going to go get massages and making sure my nails are done and getting my feet done or just having a day to just relax and sleep. Like as a person with a disability because I still do have health challenges, if I don't get enough rest, I am no good. And my health depletes. So I have to rest myself and I have to be mindful of that.
Anya Adams (13:54):
This is Sista Brunch with Fanshen Cox and Anya Adams. Stay tuned for more of our conversation with Hollywood disability inclusionist, Tatiana Lee.
Fanshen Cox (14:13):
Welcome back to Sista Brunch. I'm Fanshen Cox, and we are back with Tatiana Lee.
Anya Adams (14:22):
So as a working director in the industry, recently, I was working with my AAD and we were trying to craft a scene and I was like, can we have somebody be in the scene that's in a wheelchair? Like, how do we make this a little bit more diverse in our casting? And the response was, "We'd love to do that, but we really feel like it's going to be really impossible to get those people to the location. It's such a big deal. Let's try it another time." And not having the knowledge to be able to come back at them, I just kind of acquiesced. So-
Tatiana Lee (14:58):
So I get that response a lot. So actually in a lot of the work that I do, Hollywood passes the buck to different people. One minute they say, "Oh, it's the writer, it's the director. It's the producer, it's the casting director." And they blame each other. So first of all, it's not impossible and it's not hard. Actually, central casting. If you're using central casting or whatever, or any other casting, they know how to find people with disabilities. I am with an agency where my agent represents over 400 actors with different various disabilities, with all different levels of expertise in the industry, from knowing how to have a lead star role to people who all they do are just extras or background. So what's not impossible is literally one phone call. And a lot of people think having people with disabilities is a hazard, or it's too expensive. Actually, having a person with a disability on set, if they are a lead, costs less than $400. Then if you have somebody who is background or anything, it doesn't cost anything.
I mean, most sets are built as you do it. So it's like, as you do it, you just make sure that wires are maybe sealed over a little bit, which most sets have to do that anyway.
Anya Adams (16:14):
Right.
Tatiana Lee (16:14):
And then, just have one maybe PA, just make sure that when they're crossing different things, making sure they're a little more protected, but it really isn't that much because most of us, are already professional actors that know how to behave and know how to maneuver a set anyway. And so it's not... And then, people always think it's a liability, but I'm saying, "I'm no more of a liability than someone who isn't disabled."
Anya Adams (16:38):
This is a specific question. So we're on location. So you have to go to crew parking and then you need to get in a van to go to the location. We hire you or we hire three people that are in wheelchairs that have to get in the van with the other crew. How is that easy? You talk me through how I can get-
Tatiana Lee (16:56):
So, I actually just did this. A friend of mine was doing a show and he asked me to be on the show. That was the only reason I offered to be an extra. It was because he, the person who wrote and stars in this show asked me his self and he's a person with a disability. Anyway, what they did is most of the people with disabilities come with their own cars. So you just have them drive to the location. You just make a designated spot for them to park somewhere near where the other production cars park.
And I don't have a car right now. So what I did was I literally just brought my sister and my sister drove for the day. And then they just paid her a fee as an extra as well. And she was just available in a car for me to drive me to where I needed to go. So are solutions to different things. And it's like, most people working production, your job is to problem solve. Why can't you problem solve and put your head together to make accessibility for people with disabilities? You problem solve everything else.
Anya Adams (17:57):
Right, right, right.
Fanshen Cox (17:58):
I'll just jump in and say, so we're, we're updating the language on the inclusion rider. And we were so lucky to get to talk with Tatiana and with Diane Elizabeth Jordan, because we did the same thing, which is we wrote this inclusion rider and wrote disability language in the inclusion rider without actually consulting anybody with disabilities. So the earlier we talk about it, right? Because that's our excuse, all the excuses we hear all the time. It was like, "Well now we just don't have time." Or now we get, "COVID. We have to focus on COVID" the earlier in the process, we get them committed to making sure that they are going to make their site accessible the easier it is.
Tatiana Lee (18:39):
Yes.
Fanshen Cox (18:39):
So that you do that from day one, that way it's already part of the process. So we're working on that for sure.
Tatiana Lee (18:47):
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And it's just that simple. People just make it way more complicated than it needs to be.
Fanshen Cox (18:53):
Tatiana?
Tatiana Lee (18:53):
Yeah.
Fanshen Cox (18:54):
Can you talk about the demographics? Because if your only point is money, we're missing out on the opportunity to make money off of showing people, just folks in all aspects of the production. So can you talk about that, demographics?
Tatiana Lee (19:15):
Yeah. So first of all, people with disabilities make up 20% of the population.
Anya Adams (19:21):
Wow.
Tatiana Lee (19:21):
That is 20%. We are the largest marginalized community.
Anya Adams (19:27):
What?
Fanshen Cox (19:28):
Yep.
Tatiana Lee (19:28):
The largest. We are actually larger than the LGBTQ community.
Anya Adams (19:32):
Oh my gosh.
Tatiana Lee (19:33):
And not only that, we intersect into every other community.
Fanshen Cox (19:39):
Exactly.
Tatiana Lee (19:40):
People of color, LGBTQ, white, Asian, black, so many, we intersect into any and everything. So you can never talk about diversity and not include disability. Because if you talk about black being black or being a black woman, you can't not talk about disability. If you're talking about LGBTQ, you cannot talk about disability or include that in some way. It's so important. But not only that, a lot of times people argue the money argument.
And Nielsen actually did a study. I want to say maybe 2016, the study came out or something. And they actually did a study to calculate and talk about the buying power and the buying habits of people with disabilities. And what they found was that when you include people with disabilities, but not only that, their friends and their family, the disability market is worth over a trillion dollars. We are the third largest market, next to baby boomers and teens.
And then when you think about their members, because my family does it, people in my family don't have a disability and my friends don't, but if something isn't accessible for me, that also influences how they buy and how they spend their time as well too. So, that's so important to think about that. And so you're, you're literally leaving money on the table. And then now, there's a lot of time and now some people are trying to jump on this diversity inclusion and starting to include disability, but then there's still some areas where they're missing.
And so the community wants to see their self authentically reflected and the community wants to see their self positively reflected. And so you have to think in the way, not only are you just throwing a person in a wheelchair and just saying, "Oh, I got an actor with a disability and somebody portraying a disability." It's like, "No, you have to do it authentically." Because we go and look and we talk. Disability Twitter is a real thing. Just like there's Black Twitter.
Anya Adams (21:43):
Yeah, Disability Twitter. Can I ask you about a specific show?
Tatiana Lee (21:48):
Go ahead.
Anya Adams (21:49):
So what do you think about Mom?
Tatiana Lee (21:52):
Mom?
Anya Adams (21:53):
The show Mom?
Tatiana Lee (21:55):
I haven't really seen it, but I heard of it.
Anya Adams (21:55):
Okay.
Tatiana Lee (21:57):
So yes, it is an actor, not having a disability, portraying, being disabled. There's a few shows that are like that. That is very, very problematic. So the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is three times more than someone who is non-disabled. So by someone non-disabled playing a role that is made for a person with a disability, you're leaving out an opportunity for an actor with a disability, to be gainfully employed and help lift up that unemployment rate of people with disabilities.
Not only that, I think people don't realize that having a disability is an identity. I don't separate being a black woman from my disability. When people ask me, how do I identify? I am a disabled black woman.
Anya Adams (22:47):
Yes.
Tatiana Lee (22:49):
And I think people don't realize that all of those identities intersect for me and I don't experience one more than the other. I've even had somebody ask me, how do I feel that I've been discriminated more for, for being disabled or for being black or being a woman. And I was like, "Probably all three."
Anya Adams (23:05):
Right, right. You can't separate them all.
Fanshen Cox (23:07):
All the time. Yes.
Tatiana Lee (23:08):
Yeah. But when it comes to representation of all of that, people don't realize that we see it as a form of black face. There's a term we use in the community and it's called cripping up. And so when we see a character who isn't disabled playing disabled, first of all, we know. We can tell. Because there's certain ways that when you're paralyzed or you have a disability that you move, that you do things, how you're just effortless with things.
So when we see people non-disabled playing in a wheelchair, they're super clunky and all of this other things. Whereas, if you were to see me, I would be so much more graceful because I, how to maneuver my wheelchair. It's actually a smack in the face and is just as offensive to me as a black woman, I'm not going to speak for everyone, but just as offensive to me as if I were to see someone doing black face. Because you're portraying my identity, that you can wipe off or take away or get out of your chair, where this is my life experience. And I come with that knowledge and that lived experience. How dare you try to portray that in a way that doesn't do me justice as a human being, living on this Earth.
Anya Adams (24:22):
Hi, It's Anya and you're listening to Sista Brunch. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.
Fanshen Cox (24:43):
And we're back to our conversation with actress, model, and disability advocate, Tatiana Lee. Can you share other terminology? Because I know I used to say differently abled and then I got to learn from you all not to use that term so you can share others?
Tatiana Lee (24:57):
Yes. So, differently abled is a term that, it's a euphemism. It is honestly to make non-disabled people feel better about their selves or to not acknowledge disability because society as a whole, we have put this idea that disability is bad. And so we want to refrain from it. And it's like, disability isn't bad. It's not a bad thing. And not only that, one of the things that I always tell people is when the Civil Rights Act was signed, that did not include people with disabilities. So people with disabilities actually could be discriminated for education jobs, so many things. Actually at a certain point, couldn't really even be out in public. There was a time where there was something called an Ugly Law and people with disabilities were fined for being out in public.
The Americans With Disabilities Act literally gives me civil rights for you to not discriminate against me for a job, for an education, to have access to public places, as much as they still do that because actually the Americans With Disabilities Act doesn't have any teeth or anything to really have a way to hold these people accountable when they do discriminate besides you having to go through a whole entire lawsuit process. Granted, it still says you are not allowed to discriminate against me.
So it's not called the Americans with Differently Abled Act. It's the Americans With Disabilities Act. So that's my civil right. And so that's why I don't like when people use euphemisms like special needs and all that kind of stuff like special needs, everybody has special needs, right? Why is my needs any different than yours? The only reason my needs is different is because society hasn't adapted or to my needs as a wheelchair user because of lack of accessibility. So my needs aren't any special than yours. It's just because society doesn't want to support my needs. Let's be real.
And then another word to use is inspiration porn. And this is something that I actually teach a lot when I do a lot of my trainings. Inspiration porn is, and these are like you said, those storylines where it's only about your disability, me as a person with a disability, I don't sit around wondering about my disability or thinking about my disability 24/7. I'm worried about how my hair looks, what makeup I'm wearing, what outfit I'm wearing, who I'm going out to dinner with, "Ooh, am I going to date that guy or not?" Those are the things I'm thinking about as a woman.
The only time I'm thinking about my disability is when you bring it up for me or because there's a barrier and I have to think about it because now I have to problem solve to try to get access to this place because you're not allowing me access. But inspiration porn is when people want that person to focus on their disability and oh, they have this sad, sobby story. And then it allows the audience to say, "Oh my gosh, I feel so bad for that person with a disability. My life is so much better. Let me not complain about what I'm going through because they got it so much worse." Or it's funny. I've literally had people while I'm in the grocery store shopping or getting into my house, people will scream to me and tell me, I am brave. Why am I brave for grocery shopping?
Anya Adams (28:20):
Oh my goodness.
Fanshen Cox (28:21):
Let's put this out into the universe. Tatiana Lee, what is your dream film or TV project?
Anya Adams (28:30):
Yes, bring it. Tell us.
Tatiana Lee (28:31):
So, my dream project. And actually I started teaching myself how to write. So I'm teaching myself how to write-
Anya Adams (28:31):
Yes!
Tatiana Lee (28:40):
And I'm working on a pilot so that I can then go through a program and flesh it out and get it done because there's not enough opportunities for someone like me. I feel like the industry just now is starting to wrap their mind around white men with disabilities. So, it's still taking a while for them to get to the plus size black girl in a wheelchair with the curly, kinky hair.
And so, it's funny because I get a lot of these auditions, but they're like sad stories and someone who's focused on their disability. And then, when the role isn't focused on our disability, a lot of times they open up to just woman in a wheelchair. So then not only that I'm competing against white women in wheelchairs and most of the time, those white women end up getting it because I really honestly feel when I've actually been told this by somebody that the white women with disabilities is a little more easier to swallow than to see a black woman in a wheelchair.
So I'm working on my own script because I have so many stories that I want to tell that I feel only me, as a disabled black woman navigating the world, can tell. I've lived a lot of life and I've seen some stuff and I've been through some stuff. So I want to tell my own story. And so my dream project is to star, write, and produce my own show.
Anya Adams (30:08):
Yes, yes.
Fanshen Cox (30:11):
Okay. We should shout out Lauren Applebaum because I really think Respectability is one of the highest levels of examples of intersectionality, because she is no joke around making sure there are voices of color consistently represented and there are. And when we didn't even get into all of the different ways that people have disabilities, right? There's invisible disabilities. Is that the right terminology?
Tatiana Lee (30:38):
Yep. Non-visible disability where you can't see and that's ADHD, that's dyslexia, that's all different type of mental health disabilities, different things like that. And then you have visible like mine. And then you have people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Then you have people who may have spinal bifida, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and so many others. Downs Syndrome.
Disability is a long, huge spectrum. And I think people have this specific idea of what it looks like, but it's this huge spectrum, that we make up a huge diverse culture. But yeah, shout out to Lauren. I love working with her. I tell you, well, besides acting and modeling, it is literally my dream job to work alongside her and to really create this change that is happening. And I'm honored to be a part of all of the work that we are doing. And yeah. So I know it's opening up so many doors, not only in front of the camera, but behind the camera with our lab. And they're all talented, trained either went to school or have had jobs who are people with disabilities that want to work behind the camera, writers, producers, directors, all those different areas who have disabilities and don't have access to the industry otherwise.
Fanshen Cox (31:56):
Fully qualified folks, fully qualified folks. Just needed the, like you said, the networking or the relationships. So, I love the work you all are doing.
Tatiana Lee (32:07):
And it makes these stories so much more authentic when you have people behind the camera saying, "That's not right," or, "I don't know if you would do that." And one of the things Lauren and I preach all the time, don't forget about those intersections. Why can't the person that is LGBTQ, be deaf? Why can't the person who is black also be a wheelchair user? And all of those different things because all of that stuff matters. It really, really does. And it trickles down to how treats us as a whole and has an impact.
Fanshen Cox (32:47):
I'll keep this as general as possible to keep my job. But I was working on a period piece and just kind of adding my two cents. I was not in a position to really do much or hire folks, but I like to add my two cents. And I had to help people understand that LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, black folks existed in like medieval times, I'll say to not get too specific. You know what I mean? So this is another aspect is the constant... So we've got the excuses around hiring and making this set accessible, but then they're also the excuses of, "Well, I want to make this story real." And I'm like, "Yeah, but that is real. We existed at those times." So I wonder if you ever get pushed back on, "Well, we need to maintain the story and the story took place in the 1500s." And I'm like, "Yeah? What's your point?"
Tatiana Lee (33:55):
Yeah, some people do that. I haven't been asked to do anything like that or consulted on anything like that yet, but there's no moment where you can't say, "I can't use someone of color." Or, "I can't use a person with a disability." It's like the mobility AIDS they use probably were a little bit different from what they existed.
Anya Adams (34:14):
Tatiana, how has COVID affected your work?
Tatiana Lee (34:18):
So, I haven't had many auditions, I would say more than anything, probably affected more of my modeling because my modeling was my other like hustle that was working really well for me. So, that has been a barrier. But other than that, I honestly have still been, go, go, go between my full-time job at Respectability, I'm doing social media collaborations. I've been able to do a lot of speaking engagements virtually. So I've actually been pretty busy.
Anya Adams (34:48):
Oh, great.
Tatiana Lee (34:49):
Living my best life in COVID. But I am excited to get back to being on set and just working on more projects and doing more stuff. That's what I love the most. So I'm excited to get to that. And hopefully I booked something soon or get an audition for something soon where I can work on set. So, I'm excited.
Fanshen Cox (35:12):
Where and how can we and our listeners support you? Because even more folks will be head over heels with you, Tatiana.
Tatiana Lee (35:21):
Yes.
Fanshen Cox (35:22):
So where can we find you? Where can we support you?
Tatiana Lee (35:26):
So you can definitely go to my blog, accessiblehollywood.com. That's where you can see a lot of my writing work. Recently, I haven't been updating it, which shame on me, but you can see some of my past stuff that I've done, some of my modeling projects, some of my calling out different places for not being accessible, all that good stuff. So go to accessiblehollywood.com. You can always send me a message or an email there, it goes directly to me. Also, I'm mostly active on Instagram. So find me on Instagram, @misstatilee. So that's M-I-S-S-T-A-T-I-L-E-E. The same for Twitter and yeah, at respectability.org. That is a lot of my work that I do over there. So if you are looking to consult on a project or just want some questions, there's no question that we can't answer for you or find out. So if you're curious, message me there and holla at me. Let's work.
Fanshen Cox (36:28):
Let me just say that. If y'all go to her blog and she hasn't done updates, that's because she's working on her script.
Tatiana Lee (36:36):
Right?
Fanshen Cox (36:36):
So Tatiana, we are going to hold you to that, we're going to nudge you on that. And we're looking forward to hearing your stories from your perspective because it's so important and seeing what we can do to help you get them out into the world. We are so thrilled to have you on.
Tatiana Lee (36:54):
Thank you. This was so fun. Thank you so much.
Fanshen Cox (37:03):
That was our conversation with Tatiana Lee. Go to sistabrunch.com to learn more about her work and where to follow her on all the socials. And thank you so so much for listening to Sista Brunch and for reviewing the show and telling your friends about it. Sista Brunch is with cohost Anya Adams and me, Fanshen Cox. You can follow us on Instagram, @sistabrunchpodcast and Twitter @sistabrunch to catch up with us, find out what we're watching and support our amazing black women plus guests, and also on Facebook at facebook.com/sistabrunchpodcasts. And please, please, don't forget to subscribe and rate and review and tell all your people about the show. Anybody who wants to learn about what it's like to be in Hollywood, work in Hollywood and how to get here, tell them to listen and rate and subscribe too.
Our show producer is Brittany Turner, our executive producer is Christabel Nsiah-Buadi. We acknowledge that the land we record our podcast on is the original land of the Tongva people for those of us in Los Angeles and the Coast Salish for Anya in Vancouver. See you all next time.
