Marilee Talkington

Founder and Executive Director of Access Acting Academy

Acting, Dynamic Movement, Advocacy, & Auditioning

Marilee has been heralded as a pioneer and thought leader, as an actor and creator, and as an international advocate and activist for disability representation in the arts. She holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater and has originated over 80 roles on both stage and screen with leading roles at Tony Award winning theaters and on global television networks and streaming platforms  (NBC, CBS, CW, Apple TV+).  Marilee has also just written her first television pilot. She is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and director; an installation, performance and protest artist; and the Founding Artistic Director of Tearany Theatre and Vanguardian Productions.

She was recently awarded the 2020 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award by the National Federation of the Blind for her pioneering work in the blind community. She was also awarded the California Center for Culture Innovation Award for innovating an immersive and experiential design for her play Sticky Time and was also a recipient of the prestigious MacDowell Fellowship for playwriting. Her original works have been produced all over the world, including her solo show TRUCE on BBC Radio 4. She has been coaching professional actors privately for over 15 years and began consulting for universities, acting conservatories, studio acting programs, theaters, television and film, and teachers of disability studies in 2004. She has been profiled in the NY Times, NY Observer, Huff Post, Teen Vogue, Optimist UK, The Guardian, Mic, Buzzfeed, and has been interviewed live on the BBC. Twice.  She is a professional speaker and recently gave the keynote address at Amazon’s inaugural Accessibility Conference.  She is a Founding Member of the Times Up arm 50/50 X 2020 Disability Cohort and a member of the SAG/AFTRA PWD committee where she is working with other national disability advocates to transform the way Hollywood views disability. IMDB and Website.