Yahoo Finance Jamie Brewer on Using Her Platform for Good After Off-Broadway Run: 'We Are More Alike Than Different'
Actress and model Jamie Brewer now has theater to add to her growing resumé!
Despite being born with Down syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects physical and intellectual abilities, she's hoping her latest performance in the off-Broadway production of Corsicana will help spread the message that she's just as capable at landing a role as anyone else.
"In a disability aspect, it shows that we are more alike than different," the 37-year-old tells PEOPLE. "But the same as anybody else."
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Best known for playing Adelaide "Addie" Langdon and Nan in FX's American Horror Story franchise, Brewer has worked hard to advocate for others with disabilities in Hollywood. Her performance may have wrapped Corsicana in mid-July, but the fan responses she's received has been incredible.
Michele K. Short/FX American Horror Story: Coven
"I show my adversary platform in everything I do," Brewer says. "I really enjoy it. I actually am hearing the responses. It means a lot hearing that this play is changing lives."
During her nearly month-long off-Broadway run, Brewer starred as Ginny, a character loosely based off producer Will Arbery's real-life sister Julia who also has Down syndrome.
"It's on their life, on the dynamics of an individual with a disability and showing a brother-sister bond," Brewer says.
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Brewer wanted to connect so much to the role that she called Arbery's sister to learn the ins and outs of playing the character. The family was so impressed by Brewer's performance that they gave her their ultimate stamp of approval.
"I didn't really pick her brain," Brewer admits." I was just asking certain things on how she likes the show and everything to do with the show and seeing if she likes the music and she love[d] it."
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Next up, Brewer will star alongside Taryn Manning, Marla Gibbs and others in the Snoop Dogg produced film Bromates, out later this year. The timing of the release couldn't be more perfect for the actress, who hopes to break out musically in the near future.
"One thing that I would really love to do is being in an actual musical," Brewer, who was the first woman with Down syndrome towalk the New York Fashion Week runway, says. "And singing and dancing."
