Today we’d like to introduce you to Eileen Grubba.
Eileen, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Eileen Grubba is an award-winning actress, writer, producer, and fierce advocate for disability inclusion in Hollywood, with over 55 awards recognizing her work in front of and behind the camera. A lifelong champion for authentic storytelling, she has dedicated her career to breaking barriers for performers with disabilities and ensuring that their voices are represented in film and television. She is a lifetime member of The Actors Studio, serves on the PGEC committee of the Television Academy, and is Brand Ambassador for Global Disability Inclusion. Her television credits include standout roles on ABC’s High Potential, HBO’s Watchmen, CBS’s CSI: Vegas, SWAT, All Rise, Criminal Minds, NBC’s New Amsterdam, This Is Us, Game of Silence, Netflix’s The Politician, and ABC’s High Potential, Stumptown, as well as iconic shows like Sons of Anarchy, Bones, Fear the Walking Dead, The Mentalist, Cold Case, Nip/Tuck, The Closer, and Monk. Coming this fall to Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Eileen has never had a smooth or easy road. She was paralyzed from the waist down by vaccines at the age of five. Narrowly surviving a life-threatening spinal cord injury and paralysis, she was told she’d never walk again. But Eileen did not accept that. She learned to walk again and even realized her dream of becoming a cheerleader through persistence and sheer willpower. She later fought cancer caused by x-rays and medical treatments, and had her left ankle and foot rebuilt many times, all while continuing to fight for her right to follow her dreams and work as an actress, in spite of the industry’s resistance to her slight but mobility difference.
Fighting relentlessly for the inclusion of actors with disabilities in Hollywood, she found allies and creatives who also believed in her vision, and together they forced the industry to change. Against all odds, Eileen became an award-winning actress, writer, and producer. Her battle for inclusion in entertainment mirrors her personal fight for survival, proving that determination prevails and simply succeeding can break barriers, change norms, and open doors for others. Her dream is to change the perception of people with disabilities through entertainment so that the whole world can benefit from knowing those who have been through the most, and prevailed. Eileen believes people with disabilities should never be looked down, they should be respected for their wisdom, endurance, life experience, and their immense patience with society. She believes their battle scars should be honored, for it is proof they survived, and hold the secrets of survival.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Eileen’s work as an actor and advocate has changed the entertainment industry, opening it up to seeing visible differences on screen. Her work as an actor, writer and producer has garnered over 50 international awards, earning critical acclaim. She won a $100,000 production package for her feature film A Worthy Life in a pitch competition, which led to attaching veteran A-list producer, Hunt Lowry who produced major features like “Last Of The Mohicans”, “A Time To Kill”, “Donnie Darko”. Eileen was honored with the WeSpark Award for social impact, and has received three Mary Austin Excellence Awards for screenwriting and producing. She is currently filming the female lead in the romantic Comedy “You Are Here” with Jack, Kennedy and Judd Nelson.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Some of my favorites were by Uta Hagen: “Respect For Acting” and “A Challenge For The Actor”. Allan Miller wrote a great book called “A Passion For Acting”. I think I have every major book on acting, so it’s hard to narrow it down, but those are my favorites. .
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0344190/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eileengrubba/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EileenGrubbaOfficialPage
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileengrubba/
- Twitter: https://x.com/EileenGrubba
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EileenGrubba
- Yelp: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0344190/
- Soundcloud: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0344190/
- Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0344190/
