How Jay Ruderman Made Hollywood More Inclusive

The Oscar-winning film CODA (2021) marked a breakthrough for authentic disability representation: It featured three deaf actors in leading roles – including Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur (Best Supporting Actor) – and won Best Picture. Jay Ruderman’s family foundation, which champions disability inclusion in entertainment, recognized CODA early on with its Seal of Authentic Representation. Such milestones underscore the influence of advocates like Ruderman, who have spent years pushing Hollywood to cast actors with disabilities

Ruderman just-published book, Find Your Fight: Make Your Voice Heard for the Causes that Matter Most, chronicles his activism and offers a playbook for others seeking to advance causes about which they are passionate.

Disability is common in America – over one in four U.S. adults live with some form of disability – yet they remain underrepresented on screen. Studies show that fewer than 5% of disabled characters on TV were played by actors with disabilities, meaning disabled people have typically not portrayed disabled roles.

Ruderman, a Boston lawyer and disability-rights activist who served in the Israeli Defense Forces, has made changing that a career. As president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, he has battled stigma and worked to ensure Hollywood includes actors with disabilities.

Ruderman distills his experience into practical steps. Its opening chapter urges readers to “find your fight,” choosing a focused cause close to home. One example he cites is a Puerto Rican amateur boxer who started rescuing stray dogs on a single beach – showing how a small, persistent campaign can grow over time. Ruderman argues that personal passion and preparation – rooted in one’s own story – are what sustain long-term activism.

Ruderman stresses that persistence and expertise win trust. Early in his campaign, he encountered Hollywood’s entrenched view that only famous stars should play difficult roles. He countered by funding research: one Ruderman Foundation study found that 95% of characters with disabilities on prime-time TV were played by non-disabled actors, and a follow-up report (2020) showed some progress toward authentic casting. Armed with such data, Ruderman gained credibility among studio executives and journalists.

He emphasizes the power of community. Ruderman cultivated alliances with influential figures: Academy Award-winner Octavia Spencer wrote the book’s foreword, and other Hollywood supporters include directors like Peter Farrelly and actors like Geena Davis and Julianna Margulies. At the same time, he never hesitated to spark debate. The book recounts how Ruderman publicly challenged celebrities – from actor Alec Baldwin to rapper 50 Cent – when he believed their words or actions perpetuated stigma. Through these controversies, he says, the issues gain attention they otherwise lack.

In 2016, 50 Cent posted a video mocking a young airport worker. The worker, it turned out, was a teenager with autism. Ruderman publicly condemned the taunt as “reprehensible” and urged the rapper to apologize (50 Cent did issue an apology letter to the family.) Ruderman sees such interventions as worth the risk. As he writes, “If you’re afraid of being attacked, you’re in the wrong business.” But he advises activists to double-check the facts first.

With momentum on his side, Ruderman worked with Oscar-winning director Peter Farrelly (after Farrelly’s own film Green Book won Best Picture) to push major studios toward change. Together they persuaded NBCUniversal, Sony, and Paramount to sign the Ruderman “Authentic Casting Pledge” – a public commitment to audition actors with disabilities for all roles. (As of 2024, all four major studios – including CBS – have adopted similar guidelines for disability inclusion.)

Even at this point he warns of burnout: Activists must practice self-care. Ruderman counsels taking one day off each week (observing the Jewish Sabbath is one way he does this) to recharge and learning to say “no” when necessary. He also stresses the importance of nurturing a core group of trusted allies and distancing detractors, knowing when to preserve one’s energy.

I saw Ruderman’s tactics at work in my own life recently. When antisemitic incidents flared at my alma mater, Connecticut College, I couldn’t stay on the sidelines. Without having read the book yet, I found myself following his advice. I set a focused goal – pressuring college leaders to address a faculty-run webinar series that demonized Israel – and dug into the evidence (even obtaining the course reading list to demonstrate bias). I then rallied a small coalition (including fellow alumni and a professor) to push the issue publicly. Our campaign prompted the college to shut down the webinar series.

This experience, I realized, was essentially running Ruderman’s playbook on a local campus issue.

Ruderman’s book is timely: The momentum around disability inclusion comes even as many institutions retreat from broad DEI initiatives. In 2024, several major U.S. universities rolled back parts of their diversity programs in response to political pressures. Yet people with disabilities remain the nation’s largest minority by number – the difference is they often have no unified advocacy platform of their own. In that sense, DEI goals are not moot: A push for disability inclusion is simply catching up to ensure this group’s voices are heard.

Activists like Ruderman have stepped in to speak for disabled Americans who, through no fault of their own, may struggle to self-advocate in public forums.

Ruderman is unassuming yet relentlessly committed. In an era when world events can make individual causes feel small, Find Your Fight reminds us that organized activism still makes a difference. Ruderman’s disciplined guidance – develop the facts, build allies, expect opposition – is sound. As he writes, we live in a “revolutionary age of activism”—one person, with passion and persistence, can start a movement and change society. For anyone unsure how to turn convictions into action, this book is an essential handbook.