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CHAPEL HILL,November 22,2025
From Carolina stage to ‘HandmaidS Tale’: Carey cox Champions Disability Representation
Actor Carey Cox is using her platform to advocate for authentic portrayals of disability in storytelling,a journey that began with a surprising audition at the University of North carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Before landing her role as Rose Blaine in Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Carey Cox honed her craft at UNC-Chapel hill’s PlayMakers Repertory Company.
- A diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome during graduate school shaped Cox’s advocacy for disability representation in the arts.
- Cox adn her husband recently launched a web series, “Adoptive,” funded by an Easterseals Disability Film Challenge grant.
- The dramatic art department at UNC-Chapel Hill will host Cox this spring as part of the Kathleen Ford Speaker Series.
carey cox’s path to national recognition began with a shakespearean monologue and a scholarship. Before captivating audiences as Rose Blaine in Hulu’s critically acclaimed series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Cox was a student performer with Carolina’s playmakers Repertory Company. She didn’t anticipate succeeding at the audition in 2013, but dramatic art professor emeritus Ray Dooley was immediately struck by her interpretation of a speech from “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.”
“It was the funniest audition – the best I’d ever seen of this particular speech,” Dooley recalled. “She left the room,and I said,’We’d love to have her [at Carolina].'”
Dooley worked with the dramatic art department to secure funding for Cox’s scholarship, recognizing her remarkable talent. She flourished at UNC-Chapel Hill, graduating in 2017 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting.
During graduate school, Cox received a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that affects the joints, skin, and other bodily systems. This diagnosis profoundly impacted her perspective and ignited her passion for disability representation.
“I started to notice how rarely disability was represented on stage and screen, and when it was, it was often stereotypical or portrayed by non-disabled actors,” Cox explained. “I realized I wanted to be part of changing that.”
Cox’s commitment to authentic representation led her to seek out roles that challenged conventional portrayals of disability. She actively looks for characters who are complex, multifaceted, and not defined solely by their disability.
“I’m really interested in characters who are fully realized peopel, who happen to have a disability,” she said. “I want to see stories that show the richness and diversity of the disability experience.”
Her role as Rose Blaine in “The Handmaid’s Tale” was a importent step in that direction. Rose is a character who uses a cane, and Cox, a cane user herself, brought authenticity and nuance to the portrayal.
“I didn’t realize until it was in front of me how much of this population is missing from our storytelling and media,” she said. “and so, then, there’s a corresponding lack of understanding in the real world because we learn from stories. We learn from television and film and theater.”
The Next act
In 2024, Cox and her husband, Joseph Kibler, welcomed their son, Milo, and embarked on a new creative venture: a web series titled “Adoptive,” based on their short film of the same name. The series was made possible by a $30,000 award from the easterseals Disability Film Challenge Adobe Filmmaker Grant Program and will debut on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok this month. Cox considers this project her most fulfilling work to date.
“It was really cool to get to do something that we were totally in charge of,” Cox said, noting that she and Kibler served as directors, producers, actors, and more. “And we shot it in a way that was disability kind.”
Kathy Williams, chair of the dramatic art department, is arranging for Cox to return to Carolina this spring to share her insights with undergraduate actors through the department’s Kathleen Ford Speaker Series.
