It’s one of the most notable surprises of the television season: a first Quebec series features disabled actors who defy all taboos. They laugh about their disability, make fun of “normal” people and are so uninhibited that they are part of a swimming club. Much of the action takes place in the locker room, where we hear some bad news.
We laughed a lot while watching the first three episodes of the series Cloakrooms, which premieres on April 10 on AMI-télé platforms. The series of eight 30-minute episodes will also be broadcast at a time to be determined on ICI Télé and on Tou.tv.
One gag doesn’t wait for the other. The pace is sustained. The dialogues are straight to the point. Above all, the series normalizes people with disabilities by making them talk and behave like any other human. We become attached to the characters.
“We can be disabled and stupid,” says Mike (Michel Cordey), one of the main characters, who uses a wheelchair because he lives with brittle bone disease.
To give you an idea of the tone of the series: the group’s coach, played by Michel Charette, is so cheap that he invites Mike to accompany him on a romantic date, to impress his crush by showing her that he takes care of a disabled person.
“The damn normals are still paying for themselves. It’s thanks to us that they are normal,” says one of the swimmers. Cloakrooms.
Diversity, finally
Another character, who has cerebral palsy, is told that he speaks like someone “having an epileptic fit with a potato in their mouth.” In a surprising scene, we even see one of the protagonists having her prosthetic left arm torn off.
Heroes are afraid of nothing. They dive into the pool and parade around the locker room in swimsuits even if they have a leg, an arm or other disabilities. One of the heroines has Tourette syndrome. Another character is autistic.
“It’s very therapeutic” to play in Cloakrooms, explains Michel Cordey. He produces clips on the Web, does theater and edited three of the episodes of the series, but the character of Mike is his first main role on screen.
“It’s the first time we’re seeing the diversity we’ve been asking for for a long time on television. I hope it will make small ones. It will show those who want to do this job that there is a possibility that it could happen for real,” he says.
“We’re here. The public has been ready for this for a long time, but it’s the industry that is too cautious. I couldn’t play a surgeon in Stat tomorrow morning, but I can take on other roles,” adds Charlie Rousseau, who embodies with enthusiasm the role of Catherine, a skilled mechanic despite a congenital malformation of her arms and legs.
“Bringing down prejudices”
Dominic Sillon, known for thirty years as half of the comedy duo Dominic and Martin, plays the pivotal role of Stéphane, in addition to having contributed to the script and acting as co-producer of the content of the series. Most of the texts are adapted from the original series, which ran for 13 seasons in France.
About a third of the script comes from the clash of ideas between the Quebec artisans of the series, including anecdotes taken from the daily lives of disabled actors. “I hope that the series will open the door to more roles for disabled artists,” says Dominic Sillon. I dream of seeing Michel Cordey play the role of an accountant in a series. Not an accountant who has to explain why he is in a wheelchair. Just an accountant. »
Producer Josée Vallée and director Louis Choquette are convinced that the series marks a turning point for diversity on screen. Behind the camera too. The film crew included artisans with disabilities.
This fiction series represents a long-term effort for AMI-télé, a non-profit multimedia organization whose mission is to entertain five million Canadians who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, with reduced mobility or unable to read printed texts. The financial contribution from Radio-Canada was essential to enable the series to see the light of day, said Isabella Federigi, vice-president of content at AMI-télé.
“It’s a series that will surely destabilize some people who are not used to dealing with difference. I think it will create a reaction and it will be positive. This crazy project will break down prejudices,” she says.