Sia has further opened up about her controversial casting of Maddie Ziegler as a character on the autism spectrum. The singer cast her go-to collaborator in her new movie, Music, and explained her decision.
She made her directorial debut with the movie which is set to release early this year. back when the trailer was launched, the movie ignited outrage among social media users. Critics asked the singer about her choice to cast Maddie to play the role rather than an actor on the spectrum itself.
The movie also features Kate Hudson as Zu as it revolves around a recently sober drug dealer who becomes the guardian of her younger sister. The younger sister is named Music who is a special-needs teen who communicates through a device that speaks on behalf of her.
In a recent interview, the singer talked about how she could not do the movie without Maddie. The dancer has appeared in various music videos of Sia’s super hit songs. “I realized it wasn’t ableism — I mean, it is ableism, I guess, as well — but it’s actually nepotism, because I can’t do a project without her, I don’t want to. I wouldn’t make art if it didn’t include her,” said Sia.
The singer noted that Maddie was concerned about portraying the role initially. However, Sia assured her that she would protect her from the backlash. But the singer has not been able to stop the backlash. The Chandelier singer shared that the dancer cried on the first day of rehearsals as she was really scared.
“I’ve realized there are some things I can’t protect her from”- Sia
Sia shared that Maddie did not want anyone to think she is making fun of them. The singer further recalled that she assured her that she will not let that happen. However, she continued saying that she could not protect her from that which she thought she could do.
She continued, “… I’ve realized there are some things I can’t protect her from, as much as I try. I guess that’s like any mom or bonus mom would say.” The first trailer of the movie, Music was released back in November. Critics and autism advocacy groups responded to the teaser as they expressed their disappointment.
Sia had defended the film even back then. “@sia has got this one wrong. There are so many talented autistic actors out there,” tweeted the National Autism Society. Meanwhile, Bronagh Waugh, an Irish actress asked the singer why she did not cast a disabled actor for the part.
The actress also added that it is offensive the way she has chosen to portray the character. She wrote, “People with disabilities are not broken and don’t need fixing.” The Snowman singer responded by saying she agrees and said she never referred to Music as disabled. She added that special abilities are what she has always said. The singer explained that casting someone at her level of functioning would have been cruel and unkind.
She further said that is why she made the executive decision that they would do their best to lovingly represent the community. Sia continued to defend the film on Twitter, saying that she spent three years researching the film’s subject matter. “None of you have even seen it. Such a bummer!” she wrote to another Twitter user questioning the trailer.
Music is co-written by Sia and Dallas Clayton, and she also penned the soundtrack to the movie, which additionally stars Leslie Odom Jr., Juliette Lewis and Ben Schwartz.
