Out of My Mind star Phoebe-Rae Taylor said Friends star Jennifer Aniston helped her overcome bullying because of her disability.
Aniston provides the narration for the film, on Disney+ Friday, starring Phoebe-Rae as a girl with cerebral palsy who cannot speak.
Phoebe-Rae, 15, does have cerebral palsy, but can speak. Her character, Melody, imagines Aniston as the voice she wishes she had.
"I would cry if I ever got into the same room with her, I think," Phoebe-Rae told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "She's been such a big part of my whole entire life."
Aniston did reach out to Phoebe-Rae via direct message when she agreed to narrate the film. Phoebe-Rae told Aniston exactly how the actor had helped her through tough times.
"I got really badly bullied two years ago," Phoebe-Rae said. "It really knocked me down, and the only thing that made me laugh was watching her interviews and watching Friends."
Out of My Mind is based on the novel by Sharon M. Draper, adapted by Daniel Stiepleman. Because Draper wrote the book in first-person, there was no need for a celebrity voice.
However, director Amber Sealey knew Phoebe-Rae was named after Lisa Kudrow's character in Friends. Sealey said Phoebe-Rae's bedroom door also was purple with a yellow frame like the door to Monica's (Courteney Cox) apartment on the show.
"We started talking about her love of Friends and love of Jennifer Aniston, so that's where I got the idea," Sealey said. "We just approached Jen and luckily she was kind enough to say yes."
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Phoebe-Rae makes her acting debut in Out of My Mind. She said the production found her via a modeling agency representing models of all with different disabilities when she was 10.
"I never wanted to be an actor until this opportunity came to me when I was 10 years old," she said. "I'm now in love with it and I've met so many amazing people."
In the film, Melody participates in a program to transfer her from a special needs school to a mainstream public school. An assistant accompanies her to help her communicate with teachers and other students.
Melody's mother, Diane (Rosemarie DeWitt), initially resists the program. Diane foresees not only conflicts with other students, but anticipates faculty getting frustrated with Melody's special needs
"It was probably, on one hand, for her to protect Melody from being disappointed and I think as much for the mom, the self-disappointment," said DeWitt, 53. "Maybe just the risk aversion to saying, 'What happens next?'"
Melody wants to try mainstream school, and her father, Chuck (Luke Kirby), supports her. Kirby, 46, said Chuck understood the potential for adjustment issues, but the opportunity for Melody outweighed possible setbacks.
"Chuck just cannot let go of his certitude that his daughter has a great deal of curiosity and acumen lying right there," Kirby said. "It's yearning to be expressed and to be free."
During the film, Melody also acquires a computerized speech device, fictionally named a Medi-Talker in the book and film. The Medi-Talker does not sound like Aniston, but rather a digital voice.
Nevertheless, when Melody uses it to speak to her father, Chuck breaks down upon hearing her speak those words for the first time.
"I think it just affirmed everything that Chuck was trying to express to people," Kirby said. "It affirmed his sense that there was something yearning to come out of this girl."
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Diane gets to hear Melody say "I love you," giving each parent a moment to connect with Melody on a new level.
"When she hears it, I think that's the moment that catches her off guard," DeWitt said. "We each have different moments that bring us to our knees or that open up the lines of communication."
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