Can Marissa Bode walk? All about the 'Wicked' actress as she responds to harassment over her disability 

Marissa Bode made history by being cast as the first wheelchair user in the legacy of the musical Wicked. While Bode's character Nessarose also uses a wheelchair in the musical, the actress took to TikTok to address the alleged harassment and negative comments she has received over her disability.

X page @PopCrave posted Marissa Bode's TikTok video on November 30, 2024, wherein she said that it was okay for people to not like a fictional character, and she has a lot of thoughts about the character Nessa herself. She also said that she welcomes the goofy jokes about Nessa's personality and actions because the character is fictional.

Addressing jokes about her Wicked character's disability, Marissa Bode said:

"Agrresive comments and jokes about Nessa’s disability itself is deeply uncomfortable because disability is not fictional. 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."

Bode was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident at the age of 11 while she was on her way to rehearse for The American Girls Revue, which is an adaptation of the American Girl Books. Hence, the Wicked actress cannot walk and uses a wheelchair.

Wicked is a 2024 musical fantasy directed by John M. Chu. It features Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, among other prominent names. Bode plays Nessa, Elphabha's younger sister.

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"These comments do not exist in a vacuum"- Marissa Bode mentions in her video addressing insensitive remarks over disability

In the TikTok video addressing insensitive remarks over disability, Marissa Bode mentioned that she attempted to delete a lot of such negative comments from her videos. In her video, Bode said she had received mean comments and jokes like people asking her to "stand up" for herself even before being cast as Nessa in Wicked.

She said that she was frustrated and scared to post or talk about such comments, which was the primary reason behind her making the video. Bode said:

"This goes so far beyond me, Marissa, just needing to ignore comments on the internet. These comments do not exist in a vacuum."

Giving an example of the insensitive comments over her disability, Bode mentioned:

"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."

She expressed that she was scared because she had witnessed what happened to her peers who were outspoken about such insensitive comments about ableism online. Bode added that the comment sections of disabled creators addressing such issues are usually filled with ableist comments suggesting that they are asking for too much or that they should stop complaining.

Toward the end of her video, Marissa Bode asked people to be kind to disabled creators and artists. She also said that one of the major themes of Wicked is to have the "ability to listen and to understand one another" and that she hopes a lot of people can practice those virtues more.

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While Bode talked about the negative comments and harassment she was facing over her disability in her recent TikTok video, the actress was all praises talking about her experience while filming for Wicked.

In an interview with PEOPLE dated November 26, 2024, Marissa Bode said that director Jon M. Chu and his team were constantly listening to her and anticipating her needs. She also shared that she did not face any disability-related challenges while filming, given there was a disability coordinator on set.