Office star creates sketch show

The Office actress Julie Fernandez is working on a comedy sketch show featuring a cast of disabled people.

She says her role as Brenda in the Ricky Gervais comedy hasn’t opened as many acting opportunities as she thought, so is taking her own action to create roles for disabled people.

She said: “As a disabled person, it's still difficult to get into acting. And I'm also concerned about the way the disabled are portrayed.

 "Far too often we're seen as people recovering from an illness or as the baddie with a hook hand. It's still difficult to crack that medium.

"I've written a disabled sketch show called Raspberry Ripple which I'm hoping to get on the BBC. It has to be done right because if done wrong it can do so much damage.

"My role in The Office wasn't politically correct but in a comical way, it highlighted our plight. I think it made people stop and think."

In the interview with Teletext, Fernandez added that she understood how Gervais was inspired to write his forthcoming comedy, Extras.

She said: "When we filmed the parties in The Office, we had to draft a whole load of extras in. The main actors ended up leaving the green room because they were so competitive.

"They would say, 'I did three days on EastEnders last week and you only did one day on Corrie.'"

Published: 18 Aug 2004