Today is International Day of People with a Disability and, fittingly, the day new SBS series Latecomers makes its debut.
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Latecomers follows two strangers with cerebral palsy, Frank (Angus Thompson) and Sarah (Hannah Diviney) who, after watching their respective carers hook up at a bar, become determined to explore their own relationships with sex, and each other.
Bold, confronting, hilarious and at times heart-wrenching, the series explores the intricacies of sex and disability. It was written and created by Emma Myers, Thompson and Nina Oyama, and draws from the trio's lived experiences. The six-episode series was filmed - and set - in Newcastle.
"Latecomers was created to combat the assumptions people have about the intimate lives of men and women living with disabilities," says Myers, who lives in Pokolbin.
"Too often characters with disabilities are shown leading sexless lives.
"Angus wanted to show his real-life experiences of failure and heartbreak, whereas I wanted to create a narrative in which a disabled character questions her worth as both a young woman and romantic partner."
Diviney was a finalist in both the 2021 Australian Women's Weekly Women of The Future Awards and the 2022 Young Australian of The Year Awards. She made global headlines this year when she called out Lizzo and Beyonce for using an "ableist" slur in their lyrics.
It was a painful reminder to Diviney, who lives with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, of the cruel taunts she was subjected to at school from other students.
Lizzo altered the lyrics to her song Grrls and re-recorded it. Beyonce followed suit with her song Heated.
Diviney says it's all "a bit surreal" now. She is editor-in-chief at Missing Perspectives (an online news-service that addresses the marginalisation of women in news, media and democracy) and is running a global campaign encouraging Disney Studios to create a "Disabled Disney Princess".
Latecomers is her first professional acting experience.
"We're hoping the show will start conversations about disability and the way that disabled people are viewed and thought of in society. The intersection of relationship, sex and disability is still pretty taboo," Diviney says.
"We also want disabled people to see the possibilities available to them. We want broader conversations about representation, about why it's super important to see disabled stories told by disabled people on screen, so that it becomes normalised."
Thompson is an actor and writer known for his work on 2018's The Angus Project and his 2020 series Terrible Pauly. He won ABC's Regional Storyteller Scholarship award in 2020 and is full of praise for his co-star.
"She's very clever. I couldn't believe how amazing she was in her first acting experience," he says.
"With Frank, I wanted to create a bold character who has had similar experiences to myself with it comes to relationships and sex."
Says Diviney: "I would say with certainty that Angus is quite a bit nicer than Frank."
"That was that was my intention," Thompson says.
"To shock. To make a statement."
There's nudity, sex scenes and swearing, but there's also humour and heart. Diviney admits she filmed "some pretty intense scenes", but says they were necessary.
"If I'm honest, a lot of Sarah's insecurities explored in the show mirror my own, which gave me a little bit of pause when taking on the role," she says.
"But also, conversely, this gave me the confidence to do it because I needed to know that I could represent the story well.
"I knew the opportunity to be so frank and open and so raw and vulnerable would be really important, not just for members of the disabled community, but to anyone who watches the show."
Having actors living with disability play characters with a disability sounds like a simple enough concept, but in practice it's rare.
"I never thought that acting professionally was something I would ever do, even though I was always very into drama," Diviney says.
"Never seeing any roles out there for me, I kind of shelved that as being a pipe dream."
"I've found that there's never roles with much depth to them," Thompson says.
"I realised if you want to get into a complex character, you write it for yourself."
Diviney agrees: "That's partly why Angus and I have any work at all - we have to create it ourselves."
Thompson and Nina Oyama worked together on comedy web series The Angus Project, the first Australian TV pilot to feature a lead actor with cerebral palsy. The pair met at a university party in Bathurst where Thompson was, in his words, "hammered".
"Nina and I have been friends for a long time now, and we know each other's writing styles well," he says.
"She understood the concepts that I wanted to introduce to Latecomers. It's about showing people that we're as human as the next person."
Says Diviney: "Unfortunately there seems to be this kind of pendulum for people with disabilities where we are either not seen as objects of desire or given any kind of sexual identity, or at the other extreme, there are people who fetishise us.
"There's nothing healthy in-between."
Emma Myers, one of the co-writers, was keen to set the series in Newcastle because "the city is a character in itself".
"Newcastle residents all live within close proximity of each other, giving the feel of community, which is integral to the setting of Latecomers. There's a social spontaneity that occurs in regional hubs that does not exist in cities; everyone is a five-minute drive away," she says.
"This setting allows the characters in Latecomers to form fast friendships and access each other at a moment's notice, in a way that is realistic.
"Visually, Newcastle is a beautiful place, with iconic historic buildings that overlook a heritage-listed lighthouse and picturesque beaches.
"However, due to a growing population, Newcastle is experiencing a facelift of sorts.
"As Newcastle undergoes constant renovations to make it a brighter and shinier place, the personality of the town is changing too.
"In this show, we really wanted to showcase the beauty of Newcastle, but also portray the ways in which it is attempting to change.
"Much like our characters, Newcastle is a town with the desire to be seen as something more."
How does Diviney find the time to be a writer, an actor, an activist and an advocate?
"That's a good question," she says, laughing.
"I guess I juggle everything but I am also highly aware that my body has limitations in terms of pain and fatigue. So it is definitely a balancing act.
"I am probably more in tune with my body and what it needs and what my brain needs than the average person, so I just need to listen and pay attention to all the little signals that it gives me.
"The business and the variety of what I do is what I love so much. No two days are the same. I'd like to do more acting.
"And watching Angus, Emma and Nina write this show, and seeing how it all came together, has been pretty galvanising. I'd like to do that, too."
Latecomers premieres on SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand at 8.30pm on Saturday, December 3.
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