I Walked Away From ‘Little Women: LA’ Because Reality TV Has a Problem With Dwarfism
Disclaimer: This article is purely personal opinion. I am not attempting to be the voice of the entire little person community. I have nothing against the people who choose to be on this show.
My name is Hollis Andrews and I am a little person. I'm 4'2" and have a type of dwarfism called "achondroplasia". My mom is average height and my dad was a little person. I live in Los Angeles and am currently pursuing a career in acting. I was asked to be a part of Little Women: LA in the very early stages, before the show was even signed with a network. I was really torn on whether or not this was something I wanted to commit to. It would have been awesome exposure and frankly, I was (and am currently) in no position to turn down a steady income. But on the other hand, I had never wanted to do reality television. I hadn't racked up thousands of dollars in student loans for a theater degree to do reality. After about a month of deliberation, they were getting ready to film the pilot and the pressure was on me to finally make up my mind. Obviously, I ended up saying no. They were going to film the pilot at one of the other cast member's birthday party. I had never met this woman before and I realized there was no reason for me to attend this party other than for the show. And in an instant, I saw my future if I had said yes to this show. Faking friendships and attending events that I had no interest in just so people in their living rooms could have something to watch on Tuesday nights. And even as I write this, I realize that if I was acting in say, an NBC sitcom, it would be the exact same thing. But in that situation, I would be playing a character. I wouldn't be portraying an exaggerated image of myself.
