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Voice actor Maria Pendolino joins Lily for an episode that challenges the narrow way society views disability. Maria shares her experiences as an ambulatory mobility-aid user, explaining how fluctuating conditions are often misunderstood or erased in media and medicine. With candid honesty, she connects her journey of psoriatic arthritis, knee replacements, and self-advocacy to building a career that truly works for her body, through voiceover and a fully accessible home studio.
The conversation also takes on fat bias in healthcare, how outdated tools like BMI continue to be used to deny or delay care, and the scripts Maria uses to set boundaries in appointments. Her message: you deserve to be treated as a whole person, not reduced to a number or assumption.
Maria details the creation of the Disabled Voice Actors Directory, now housed under the National Association of Voice Actors, which helps casting directors find authentic talent. It’s a resource born out of a belief that disabled people don’t just deserve representation on-screen, they should be hired behind the microphone, too.
Key Moments
02:50 Breaking the myth of disability as “all or nothing”
06:02 What fluctuating disability really looks like in practice
14:16 Age bias in surgery: when doctors refuse joint replacements under 50
21:31 Why BMI is flawed and how it blocks real care
29:46 Self-advocacy scripts: “I will not be weighed”
42:34 The audition turning point: “Are you limping?”
46:54 Building an accessible home studio and thriving as a voice actor
54:11 Founding the Disabled Voice Actors Directory
1:04:11 Know the Facts: fat phobia and systemic barriers
Connect with Maria Pendolino
Website: https://www.voicebymaria.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGkmvgiBP89fHUl9-8awQRA/videos
Maria Pendolino - London Voice Over: https://www.londonvoiceover.com/artists/maria-pendolino/
Maria Pendolino - London Voice Over: https://voice123.com/voice-actor/voicebymaria
