“Nelly Nieblas, 17, is not your typical young actress. Not only does she have cerebral palsy, she says she has other strikes against her—she’s a short, chunky woman, and not a beautiful bombshell.
She knows that in Hollywood, people don’t accept you if you look different. But after all she’s been through, it doesn’t worry her much.
Nelly, a senior studying theater at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, looks up to Joan of Arc, the woman warrior who fought battles in the 1400s.
She was born with a mild case of cerebral palsy, which impairs her flexibility and allows for less control over her legs. That’s why she uses special canes. “Every movement is a lot of effort,” she says.
In her Latino neighborhood, many people believed that a physically deformed child is born as punishment for sins of parents or ancestors. As a result, her father’s family rejected her. Her aunt calls her a human earthquake.
When Nelly was first born and was taken to the supermarket by her mother, people followed them in the aisles and called out “F—-in’ sinner.”
Nelly almost always wears long pants to conceal the scars on her legs. But one hot summer day when, at age 13, she was baby-sitting for a little girl, Nelly wore shorts. The kid got scared, and the child’s mother told Nelly that she no longer wanted her to baby-sit.
In her elementary school days, Nelly decided to try swimming. The coach at the park didn’t want to let her in at first, but after she got a teacher to supervise, she was allowed in the pool.
A little boy swimming nearby came over to her and showed her some strokes. Suddenly the boy’s mother rushed over, saying, “Don’t go near her. She’s diseased, she’s not like you.” She brought Nelly to tears.
Despite the difficulties that she faces, Nelly doesn’t like accepting other’s help. “I want to be a tough chick… I am a feminist.”
She said that when she really needs help, it doesn’t bother her to ask for it. Sometimes she asks other students to help her put her books in her locker, to lighten her backpack, which is always filled to the brim. But she doesn’t want help unless she asks for it. It bugs her when her mom carries her bag or meets her at the bus stop.
In seventh grade, Nelly decided to participate in an acting workshop. The teacher wouldn’t look at her face, she says, only her crutches. He constantly told her that maybe she should sit out an exercise. She left that day thinking, “Well, that was a new experience for him [the instructor].”
So far, she has not had such problems at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she’s in the selective film program this year.
Sixteen-hour days?
With the occasional 16-hour days due to rehearsals that go as late as 11:45 at night, not to mention a healthy load of homework, you might wonder why she puts herself through it all. Well, it’s for her love of theater.
After watching a Spanish film about a little orphan girl and being inspired by E.T., she went to her school’s drama teacher and was stung by the acting bug.
For Nelly, acting is a time to let go of everything and be someone else. “I can be anybody, anywhere, anytime. It is my outlet.”
Nelly feels an “adrenalin rush, excitement, a feeling of a different world” when she’s acting. For her, the audience disappears. “…it’s just me and the other actors when I’m doing a scene.”
Her goal is to be an independent film maker and create a theatre company for physically challenged kids, so that they will have opportunities that she did not.
She wants to direct because, in her own words, “I’m a control freak.” She explains that though actors have a voice, the director gets to make the creative choices in films.
Nelly hopes to make films that open people’s eyes by shattering stereotypes. She wants to show that underrepresented people, such as handicapped, black, and Asian actors, can also play lead roles. She said she was encouraged when she saw a deaf actress on television’s “L.A. Law.”
She is the first in her family to be heading to college, which makes her parents very happy. She expects to attend New York University’s prestigious Tisch program for theater and film, and graduate school at USC.
“People I admire are those who are going against all odds… All I can do is accept who I am, and improve what I have.”
For her tenacity, determination and sheer guts, LA Youth salutes Nelly Nieblas.”