Ellen Pompeo Sparks Representation Debate After Being Cast As Woman With Hearing Loss In New TV Series

Actor Ellen Pompeo has sparked a debate about representation after announcing her next television gig.

Pompeo, best known for her long-running stint as the titular Dr. Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy, is set to star in a new medical drama in development at Hulu playing a character with hearing loss.

In the show, Not a Sound, Pompeo will portray Amelia Winn, an ER nurse who lost her hearing in a hit-and-run accident. The show is based on the novel by Heather Gudenkauf.

The story center's on Winn's discoveries about what actually happened in the accident, which arrive via a shocking twist.

But the announcement of the show hasn't gone over well with many who feel that a character with hearing loss should be played by an actor with the same condition.

As one person on X put it:

"A hearing person playing a deaf/HOH [hard of hearing] character 🤦🏻♀️"

"There are so many deaf/HOH actors that could have wonderfully played that role."

Pompeo, at least as far as the public knows, does not struggle with hearing issues. And given that hearing loss and deafness are protected disabilities, many feel that a person with the actual disability should portray it.

There is of course a dearth of roles onscreen for disabled actors, and when they do come up, they are often given to big-name actors with no experience with the disability.

This is certainly not a new conversation, especially with respect to hearing disabilities. Oscar-winning deaf actor Marlee Matlin has spoken openly about her experiences in Hollywood with how the casting system tends to treat deafness.

During the press run for the 2021 film CODA, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2022 and in which Matlin played a deaf mother, Matlin described being passed over for the lead in Jane Campion's Oscar-winning The Piano in 1993.

Matlin said Campion told her she was perfect for the lead role of Ada, a nonverbal woman, but that audiences would find Matlin's deafness distracting.

She also discussed having once lost out on a role portraying a deaf character after it went to a hearing actor, only for her to then be asked by producers to consult on the film to teach the actor "how to be deaf."

Given all this history and the way disabled actors are routinely passed over in Hollywood, many people are very angry about Pompeo's next role.

People on Reddit were uncomfortable with the casting choice as well. One user wrote:

"This may be an unpopular opinion but she shouldn’t be playing a Deaf person in her new role. There are so many D/HH actors who could easily play the role." —u/No-Needleworker1401

To which another Redditor replied:

"This is how I felt when I read it. Why not cast a deaf or hearing impaired person instead of a hearing person for this role 😡"—u/drv687

The counterpoint some have brought up is that Pompeo's character is only recently hard of hearing, unlike actors such as Marlee Matlin who were born deaf, for instance.

As another person on Reddit pointed out:

"Problem is that she’s apparently just became deaf - she’s not gonna know how to be culturally Deaf within that 5 mins of being deaf."

"She’s still a hearing person that just lost their hearing, so she’s gonna behave in a hearing manner..." —u/OnlyQOB

But that's not actually a problem: There are actors out there with this same experience.

As an Instagram commenter who lost their hearing in their 40s put it:

"Not all deaf people are deaf from birth—obviously. There are actors who became deaf and HoH actors who have flawless 'hearing' accents who can play a hearing person in a flashback..."

Of course, those actors may not have the name recognition and cache to draw in subscriptions and ad dollars that Pompeo has. TV is, at the end of the day, a business.

Still, the people angry about this are angry about a long-standing problem. As the Instagram user went on to say:

"This is an absolute fail by David Kelley, his production company, Hulu, and Pompeo. WTF! 🤬"

"As someone who became legally deaf in my 40’s (HoH who reads lips) and who is a longtime Greys fan, I will be happily boycotting this show and support the #deafcommunity and any activism they choose to direct at this production. 🧏🏻♀️ 💪🏼 🤟🏼"

How this backlash will impact Not a Sound remains to be seen.