Belle sounds off

Actress Lisa Hammond stars as Belle in the Lyric Hammersmith’s family Christmas show Beauty and the Beast, showing 29 Nov – 5 Jan. In this role, as in others, she challenges conventions and stereotypical views.

Lisa has worked with some of the UK’s most inventive theatre companies, including Improbable and Told by an Idiot. She also makes regular TV and film appearances, and is best known for her roles in Peter Kay’s Channel 4 series Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere, BBC2’s drama Every Time You Look at Me and the BBC’s 2005 adaptation of Bleak House.

What’s the best thing about being disabled?
People picking things up when you drop them, and being able to get away with a lot.

What makes you angry?
People walking aimlessly down the street, not knowing where they’re going. And people misunderstanding when I’m trying to explain something.

What’s the funniest thing someone’s ever said about your impairment?
Once in America we were staying in a modern town in Maine. We went to a state fair and as I was going in, one of these redneck women said to her kid, “Oh my God! There’s a real-life little person. Go poke her.”

How do you deal with people who barf on about your impairment? Have you any good put-downs?
I’m not savvy about that. I still get quite shocked when people say really stupid things. All the ones that I think of are never quite enough.

What’s the one thing that could be invented that would make your life as a disabled person better?
An invention where you clap your hands and you’ve arrived somewhere. A transportation or morphing device.

What do you most like about the character you’re currently playing?
Belle listens to people and she’s very real. The other characters are all living in the world of fairytale and she’s the real one. And she’s not afraid to say what she thinks.

What do you not like?
That she’s not a bitch.

Who’s your favourite disabled person ever?
I hate them all! (laughs)

Do you have any special or hidden talents apart from acting?
I can put my fist in my mouth.

If you didn’t have your impairment, which one would you like to have?
I’d like to be blind. It seems quite nice.