British actor Mat Fraser cannot help but call the hit TV series American Horror Story "groundbreaking" for giving acting opportunities to disabled actors.
"It's profound," he told The Guardian. "Giving storylines like that to a deformed person is radical. We're the first disabled people on US TV, but this is a show about freaks, so they see me and think 'good casting'. A world where if even your teeth are wrong you don't get gigs? It's a tough nut to crack."
Fraser plays Paul the Illustrated Seal Boy in Freak Show. "I have the face of a pretty lad. A handsome face. Could you imagine this mug on a normal body? I could have ruled the world," his character said.
Before Freak Show, Fraser used to have musical gigs and sometimes appear in British television. He also worked at the Coney Island Circus Side Show in 2006, and that is where he met his wife American neo-burlesque performer Julie Atlas Muz.
The Guardian revealed that his disability phocomelia is due to his mother's prescription of the drug Thalidomide during pregnancy.
Fraser recalled his audition for Freak Show, which was done via his laptop. He was offered the role the very next day.
"I fought against having tattoos on my face. My face conveys my emotions and I wanted to be recognised. I wanted people to be able to see me acting. To see me," said Fraser. Originally, Paul was supposed to be a lizard man covered head to toe in tattoos.
"I don't blame them," he added. "I wanted to do the lines. I'm not going to say, 'I don't think a disabled person would think that.' I used to be like that. I've learned a lot about disability portrayal, and sometimes you have to let that stuff go. Yes, it's important and in my own work I talk about it, but sometimes you just have to want to do the acting."