The Scotsman

‘Wheelchair­s are the most freeing mode of transporta­tion’

◆ Yolanthe Fawehinmi hears from Kyla Harris and the stars of We Might Regret This about why disability representa­tion matters on and off screen

Kyla Harris wants everyone to be less scared of disabled people. But when you look at the type of representa­tion disability has on screen, in programmes often made by non-disabled people and rooted in elaborate stories of tragedy or inspiratio­n, the filmmaker, writer and activist who applies an intersecti­onal approach to all her work, can understand – to an extent – where the prejudice towards mobility devices and those who use them comes from.

It is one of the reasons the 39-year-old, who lived in a rural community outside Toronto before moving to the UK more than a decade ago, stars in new BBC Two comedy drama We Might Regret This, which she co-wrote with long-time friend Lee Getty.

Inspired by some of the spontaneou­s decisions and intimacy of their 20-year friendship, the series follows thirtysome­thing Canadian artist and tetraplegi­c Freya (Harris) after she moves to London to be with her fiftysomet­hing solicitor boyfriend Abe (Darren Boyd), Freya unexpected­ly reunites with her chaotic best friend Jo (Elena Saurel) and impulsivel­y hires as her new personal care assistant.

Because of the nature of her disability, personal care assistants (PAS) are always around to help – and in Freya’s case, inevitably become the third wheel in her romantic relationsh­ip with Abe, who is also a father to an adult son (Edward Bluemelis) and technicall­y still married to his ex-wife (Sally Phillips).

“I really hope people come away with less fear of disabled people, the idea of becoming disabled, and [less] prejudice towards mobility devices,” says Harris, who admits she is a little nervous about how the internatio­nal comedy will be perceived by both a UK and North American audience.

“So much of what we know about the above is based on learned perception, for example, the only difference between a bicycle and a wheelchair is the judgment we place on a wheelchair as a mobility device, when actually, wheelchair­s are the most freeing modes of transporta­tion.”

In addition to creating a series that challenges the stereotype­s associated with caring for someone as a PA, Harris and Getty also wanted to explore the complexiti­es of female friendship­s through a disabled lens.

Getty explains: “We intentiona­lly infused the series with as much disabled perspectiv­e as possible.”

Disability is not a black and white experience, it is nuanced and specific to the individual. How can non-disabled

people know that if they don’t have access to variations of the disabled experience? To date, most disability-related stories see the disabled person as the object, looked at from the outside.

“We Might Regret This intends to bring you inside the disabled experience through the eyes of our disabled protagonis­t,” adds Getty. “Our director, Nick Colette, and director of photograph­y, Will Hanke, were very intentiona­l and creative in their approach of how to bring us into Freya’s point of view, inventing new dollies and rigs to attach to Kyla’s wheelchair, so you were always with her, not outside of her.

"We also hired as many disabled people as possible [both in front and behind the camera] and had one of the most accessible, if not the most accessible, production­s ever made in the UK, and hope to have set the bar for future production­s.”

For Elena Saurel, it is essential to showcase new, diverse and authentic perspectiv­es on screen. “I relate to Jo in a lot of ways. I know what it’s like to feel lost and messy, I can be cynical and I swear a lot,” Saurel says. “Like Jo, I root for and relate to the underdog, as I’ve never felt I neatly fit into one category... my mother was from El Salvador, my father is American and I grew up all over the place, feeling like I’m from everywhere and nowhere. Much like Jo’s mysterious, nomadic rootlessne­ss, it’s sometimes too complicate­d to explain.

“This is what makes the show so exciting and unique: it offers an honest and, at times, brutally raw portrayal of the dynamics and boundaries in friendship­s, relationsh­ips, and family.

“Disability is integral but not the central topic, it’s part of the context. I find this incredibly refreshing and eye-opening. It’s funny, sexy, messy, sad, and muy, muy escandalos­o [very, very outrageous].

“The show brilliantl­y balances comedy and drama by highlighti­ng our society’s pervasive ableism, I know it opened my eyes to a lot of my own limited awareness.

“I hope the show will demystify the term ‘disability’, reminding us that although there may be initial trepidatio­n around both giving and receiving care, there is also beauty, humour and joy and that we all rely on each other at different points in our lives.”

But it was the blended family storyline in We Might Regret This, which explores allthemisc­ommunicati­onsand misinterpr­etations that come with pulling two different worlds together, that made Darren Boyd sit up and pay attention to the story.

“I myself am part of a blended family, so there are most certainly aspects of Abe’s circumstan­ces that ring true. I also enjoyed Abe’s generally optimistic outlook and his ability to continuall­y ‘show up’ for his family,” Boyd, 53, says.

“Not only does this provide great comedic material, but it anchors the audience to the characters and creates a level of care that an out-and-out comedy might not.

“I’m always drawn to character and story before anything else, and the fact that one of the characters involved in this set-up is a wheelchair user only adds to the layers and level of intimacy, I think.”

Disability is integral but not the central topic, it’s part of the context. I find this incredibly refreshing and eye-opening

We Might Regret This is on BBC Two at 10pm today and iplayer now