Page 50 - ABILITY Magazine -Cedric Yarbrough Issue

Cooper: How did you find her?
Yarbrough: Scott Silveri is the head writer and cre- ator of the show. He got in contact with her—her name is Eva Sweeney. I said, “Please, let’s have a meeting.” She was extremely gracious!
Eva advised on the show as well. She’s really open, as was her aide, Tim. We were able to talk and hang out. I wanted to be more educated than my character, because he goes in not knowing a whole lot, but I didn’t want to be as dumb as he was. (laughs) I wanted to meet with her, and we talked about anything and everything. It was cool. She’s an excellent writer, too!
Cooper: And she’s local?
Yarbrough: Yes. We worked diligently and hand in hand with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation (CPF). They advised us and, of course, we’re going to get things wrong, but I think we’re getting things right more than not. Scott Sil- veri has a brother who’s nonverbal, so he comes from an authentic place for the show. He was kind of tired of see- ing shows that were always sad and maudlin with families with disabilities or someone with autism or someone who has CP, and he just wanted to make a really funny comedy with a character who has cerebral palsy.
Martirosyan: And it works.
Yarbrough: I think so. I think people are really finding it funny and not a waste of their time. They feel good about watching the show, and that feels good, too.
Martirosyan: I think one of the funnier scenes was when you left without him in the car.
Yarbrough: Oh!
Martirosyan: And you were like, “I’m not gonna lie, that sucked!”
Yarbrough: Yeah! That was one of the first conversa- tions we had that I didn’t want my character coming in all-knowing and omniscient and being able to save this family—as if they need saving anyway! But I didn’t want to come in like—you know, there’s a phrase we say in the African-American community, “the magical Negro,” who comes in and can solve everything, like The Legend of Bagger Vance. You’ve seen that movie? That’s with Will Smith and Matt Damon. Smith plays a golf pro, and out of nowhere he cares for this white guy, for no reason, and then he disappears. So I didn’t want to be that guy! (laughs)
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