Micah Fowler | |
|---|---|
 Micah Fowler at the Shane's Inspiration 5K in Griffith Park, September 2017 | |
| Born | Micah D. Fowler March 5, 1998 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Known for | Speechless |
| Relatives | Kelsey Fowler (sister) |
Micah D. Fowler (born March 5, 1998) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying J.J. DiMeo on the ABC sitcom Speechless .
Fowler grew up in Barnegat Township, New Jersey. [1] He grew up performing in local theater productions along with his sister, Kelsey Fowler. After Kelsey began getting roles in Broadway theatre, Fowler developed his own ambitions for an acting career. [2]
Fowler started pursuing acting at the age of 5, playing roles on Blue's Clues and Sesame Street . At age 13, Fowler booked his role in Labor Day . On his eighteenth birthday, Fowler found out he had booked the role of J.J. DiMeo on Speechless . In an interview with People magazine , Fowler said that getting the role was the "best birthday present ever!" [3]
Both Fowler and J.J. have cerebral palsy; however, Fowler is able to speak, and J.J. is not. [4] Fowler has said that while filming, he sometimes wanted to speak after long stretches of time where he was not allowed to speak while in character. [3] Fowler is one of the few disabled actors who have portrayed a disabled character on primetime network television. [5]
When not performing, Fowler works as an ambassador for the Cerebral Palsy Foundation (CPF). After each episode of Speechless aired on ABC, the CPF's website posted content and short informational videos about cerebral palsy. Fowler encouraged the viewers of Speechless to use the CPF's resources, saying, "So the next time you watch Speechless, take 10 minutes to check out their post for the night." [3]
When taking the role for Speechless, Fowler had to move from New Jersey to Los Angeles and also missed much of his sled hockey season and most of his senior year. [5]
Fowler had previously been somewhat averse to social media; however, after joining the cast of Speechless, he created accounts on Instagram and Twitter to promote the show.
Regarding the media he grew up on, Fowler has said, "I couldn't help but notice the lack of characters dealing with disabilities." [4] In the future, Fowler hopes to be in a Star Wars or Marvel film. [5]
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speaking. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children of their age. Other symptoms include seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning, each of which occur in about one-third of people with CP. While symptoms may get more noticeable over the first few years of life, underlying problems do not worsen over time.
Barnegat Township is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 24,296, the highest ever count at a decennial census and an increase of 3,360 (+16.0%) from the 2010 census count of 20,936, which in turn reflected an increase of 5,666 (+37.1%) from the 15,270 counted in the 2000 census.
Paul Reiser is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He played the roles of Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom My Two Dads, Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom Mad About You, Modell in the 1982 film Diner, Carter Burke in the 1986 film Aliens, and Detective Jeffrey Friedman in Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. More recently, he has gained recognition for his roles as Jim Neiman in the 2014 film Whiplash and Dr. Sam Owens in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
Adam Jared Brody is an American actor. His breakout role was as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series The O.C. (2003–2007). Brody appeared in films including Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Thank You for Smoking (2005), In the Land of Women (2007), and Jennifer's Body (2009).
JJ or jj may refer to:
Cheryl Ruth Hines is an American actress and comedian who portrayed Larry David's wife Cheryl on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, for which she has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also starred as Dallas Royce on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory and made her directorial debut in 2009 with the film Serious Moonlight. Hines is married to lawyer and 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Geraldine Ann "Geri" Jewell is an American actress, stand-up comedian, diversity consultant, and motivational speaker, noted for roles on the 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life and the mid-2000s western Deadwood. She is known as being one of the first people on a TV sitcom with cerebral palsy, and she has helped advocate for people with disabilities throughout her career. She has also been an advocate for the LGBTQ community since publicly coming out as lesbian in her 2011 autobiography.
Cedric Percelle Yarbrough is an American actor and comedian who stars in series Reno 911! as Deputy S. Jones and as Kenneth on the ABC sitcom Speechless, as well as voicing Gerald Fitzgerald on the Netflix comedy Paradise PD, Officer Meow Meow Fuzzyface on the Netflix comedy-drama BoJack Horseman, and Tom DuBois and Colonel H. Stinkmeaner on the Adult Swim sitcom The Boondocks.
Tyler James Williams is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, making several appearances on Saturday Night Live, Little Bill, and Sesame Street. Williams later rose to prominence for playing the role of Chris Rock on the UPN/CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005–09). Following this, he starred as songwriter Cyrus DeBarge in the Disney Channel film Let It Shine (2012), and Noah on the AMC horror television series The Walking Dead (2014–15).
Robert Francis Hastings was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Lt. Elroy Carpenter on McHale's Navy and voicing Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Animated Universe.
Aaron Pedersen is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actor. He is known for many film and television roles, in particular as Detective Jay Swan in the film Mystery Road, its sequel Goldstone, and spin-off television series. He has been nominated for many and won several acting awards, including the 2021 AACTA Award for International Award for Best Actor in a Series.
Roy Frank "RJ" Mitte III is an American actor, best known for playing Walter White Jr. on the AMC series Breaking Bad (2008–2013). Like his character on the show, he has cerebral palsy. After moving to Hollywood in 2006, he began training with a personal talent manager. They sought acting opportunities where his disability would serve to educate viewers, which led him to audition for the role in Breaking Bad.
Kelsey Fowler is an American stage and film actress. She began her professional acting career at the age of ten, performing on Broadway, and acting in television commercials and film. Kelsey has appeared on Broadway for six years, performing in four Broadway productions. She can also be seen in the Mary Poppins television commercial and the Independent Lens television documentary "Grey Gardens from East Hampton to Broadway". She has been a featured guest on "The View" and a Broadway Kids Care guest on "The Early Show". Kelsey along with Alison Horowitz won the First Place 'Presentation Award', at Broadway's 2008 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition, where they performed a parody of the song, "We Do Not Belong Together" from Sunday in the Park with George.
Zach Anner is an American comedian, actor, and writer with cerebral palsy who gained worldwide attention with the submission of a video to Oprah Winfrey's "Search for the Next TV Star" competition. He won his own TV show on OWN through Oprah's Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star. His wheelchair travel show, Rollin' With Zach, premiered December 12, 2011. Zach recently wrote for and guest-starred on the ABC-TV sitcom Speechless, which is centered on a teenager with cerebral palsy.
Mason Cook is an American actor. He played Cecil Wilson in the 2011 film Spy Kids: All the Time in the World. From 2016 to 2019 he portrayed Ray DiMeo in the ABC sitcom Speechless.
Jacob Bertrand is an American actor who began his career as a child actor appearing in the 2009 film Duress and playing guest roles on television series such as The Cape and The Middle. He is known for playing the titular character in the 2014 Disney XD series Kirby Buckets, and Jack Malloy in the 2016 Disney Channel Original Movie The Swap. Since 2018, Bertrand has played the series regular role of Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz in the YouTube Premium and Netflix series Cobra Kai.
Andrew Matarazzo is a Brazilian-American actor, singer and author, best known for joining the cast of the MTV television series Teen Wolf in its final season.
Speechless is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 21, 2016, to April 12, 2019. Created by Scott Silveri and co-executive produced with Christine Gernon, Jake Kasdan, and Melvin Mar, the 20th Century Fox Television/ABC Studios co-production was greenlighted to series order on May 13, 2016. A first-look trailer was released on the same day. Starring Minnie Driver, John Ross Bowie and Micah Fowler, the sitcom explores the serious and humorous challenges a family faces with a teenager with a disability. On September 29, 2016, the series was picked up for a full 22-episode season. An additional episode was ordered on December 13, 2016, for a 23-episode season. On May 10, 2019, ABC cancelled the series after three seasons.
Ryan O'Connell is an American writer, actor, director, comedian, LGBTQ activist, and disability advocate. He is known for his 2015 memoir, I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, about his life as a gay man with cerebral palsy, which he adapted into television series Special for Netflix, premiering in April 2019.
Tim Renkow is an American actor, writer and comedian. He plays the leading role of Tim in the TV series Jerk, which he also co-wrote.
Now a local teen has a chance to make it big on television. Barnegat's Micah Fowler – Kelsey's younger brother – will make his national TV debut at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21 in a new ABC show called "Speechless."(subscription required)