Lizzy Clark

Lizzy Clark (born 3 April 1994) is an English actor. Clark is best known for playing the role of Poppy in the 2008 television film '' Dustbin Baby''. Both Clark and Poppy have Asperger syndrome.

Career

Clark's first experience of professional acting came in 2008 when they starred alongside Dakota Blue Richards in the BBC film '' Dustbin Baby'', an adaptation of the Jacqueline Wilson novel of the same name. They played the part of Poppy, a teenager with Asperger syndrome. The BBC said that the fact Clark also had the condition offered them a "unique take" on the role. Prior to coming out as non-binary, Clark was considered the first actress with Asperger syndrome to portray a fictional character with the condition. Clark auditioned for the role when their mother, Nicky, saw the position advertised on a website about autism.

Don't Play Me, Pay Me

Prompted by Clark's role in ''Dustbin Baby'', Clark's mother started the Don't Play Me, Pay Me campaign in attempt to stop actors "playing disabled". Their mother said that actors without mental disabilities playing characters with specific conditions is the " blacking-up of the 21st century", saying that "we need to break down these barriers. They're unacceptable and indefensible in a modern-day society, especially when there are so many good, disabled actors who are both ready, eager and able to take on these parts". Clark is heavily involved in the campaign, and said that

It is not just mentally disabled actors who lose out when non-disabled people are employed to act them. Audiences think they are getting an authentic portrayal of a mentally disabled person, but they're not. It's not like putting on a different accent or learning what it was like to be raised in a different era. You can't understand what it is like to have a mental disability unless you've really lived with it. When non-disabled people try to portray us, they tend to fall back on stereotypes that have done our community so much harm in the past.

Targets of the campaign include setting up a forum for mentally disabled actors, and "to see disabled actors playing parts where the least interesting thing about them is their disability." As part of the campaign, their mother, who was an aspiring actress herself, asked stage schools to be more pro-active in encouraging the enrollment of students with disabilities.

Personal life

Clark is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Clark was diagnosed with autism at the age of 11 and also has complex anxiety disorder and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Their younger sister Emily, nicknamed Emmy, is also on the autism spectrum, in addition to having learning disabilities and epilepsy. Their mother Nicola, nicknamed Nicky, was also diagnosed with autism in 2015 and is active as a campaigner on disability issues.

References

External links

Don't Play Me, Pay Me Campaign Website

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Lizzy
1994 births
English child actors
English television actors
Living people
Actors from Shrewsbury
People with Asperger syndrome
English LGBT actors
British non-binary actors
21st-century English actors