This article is an adapted piece from Abbie Hills’ Substack.
When I was two years old, I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. At seventeen, I saw a scan of my brain for the first time. A quarter of it appeared black in the image. The doctor stared at it, then at me, and said, “This doesn’t match the person who just walked in here.”
What he meant was: I didn’t look disabled enough.
Outside, I could pass as non-disabled but inside, I lived with chronic pain, fatigue, and a persistent sense that something was “off.” But even that didn’t match the version of myself I’d been encouraged to present, especially as I began working in film and TV. The industry taught me early that being open about my disability made things more complicated. So I learned to tuck it away, to keep it quiet, to pretend the wobble wasn’t there.
For a long time, I didn’t identify with my cerebral palsy—not because I didn’t have it, but because I felt I couldn’t admit to it and still build a career in entertainment. Who would hire a production runner with CP when they could hire one without? I thought acknowledging it would shut doors. So I kept my mouth shut and powered through.
After finishing my film degree, I wasn’t sure what path I could take that would allow me to stay in the industry without burning myself out. What I did know was that I thrived when I was connecting people- supporting actors, helping others on set, guiding creative teams. I just didn’t see where that fit.
So I did what any graduate would do after their first degree finished – I did another one! I started a Master’s, hoping a business angle would give me more options (at the time I thought about getting into film sales and distribution). A few weeks in, I had the lightbulb moment that changed everything: I want to be a talent agent.
Seven years later, that idea is my reality. At 23, I started with five clients in Southampton, hustling for local jobs, student films, and music videos. Today, I represent more than 60 clients across the UK and Europe. I built The Dazey Hills Company as a disability-led (by me), diversity-focused agency that champions diversity and dismantles the quiet barriers that so many in this industry face. My clients are my driving force—and the work is challenging, fast-paced, and fulfilling in a way that still respects the limits my CP imposes.
Even though cerebral palsy is one of the most common disabilities worldwide—affecting around 18 million people—people still often tell me I “don’t look like” I have it. As if disability needs a visual cue. As if cerebral palsy only exists in the extremes they’ve been shown. Living in that in-between place “too disabled” for some things, “not disabled enough” for others can be isolating, especially in film and TV, where perception is everything.
I’ve pushed through jobs in the past without asking for help for fear of not being hired again. I’ve carried myself to exhaustion rather than request a chair on set because I didn’t want to appear lazy. I’ve swallowed pain and frustration because explaining it all felt… boring. The over-explanation, the justifying, the need to constantly “prove it”—it’s exhausting.
My first ‘job’ in entertainment was at 15—unpaid, dragged across a golf course in the snow in a non-speaking acting role—and I didn’t tell a soul I had cerebral palsy. I thought silence was safer. My body told the truth, though.
Now I’m 30, and I speak about my CP loudly. Proudly, even. Not because I want inspiration points, not because it’s a “superpower,” but because I know how many people feel they have no voice at all. In the UK alone, around 130,000 adults have cerebral palsy. Some live like me, some don’t. But visibility matters for all of us.
I built my own talent agency because I wanted to work in entertainment without hiding. I wanted to create a space where others didn’t have to hide either. And if that means walking the wobbly line, some days steadier than others—then so be it!
This industry is full of people with talent who deserve to be seen. And I intend to keep opening doors, wobble and all. I’m ready for a truly inclusive industry – no more tokenism, no more trends, and no more hiding.
