Speechless - Q + A with Writer and Executive Producer Scott Silveri

Have you ever looked at your family and thought that your story would make for good television? That's pretty much what happened with Writer and Executive Producer Scott Silveri. His brother has cerebral palsy and he wanted to write a show that would be an ode to his parents and showcase a family navigating the challenges of raising a child with special needs. Although it took him a few decades to bring his family's story to the small screen, Speechless premiered on ABC this season (and airs Wednesdays at 8:30 PM) and has been hailed a hit.

Check out the Speechless trailer here:

Speechless stars Minnie Driver, who plays Maya DiMeo , as a mom on a mission who will do anything for her husband Jimmy (John Ross Bowie), her kids Ray (Mason Cook), Dylan (Kyla Kennedy), and JJ (Micah Fowler), her eldest son with cerebral palsy. As Maya fights injustices both real and imagined, the family works to make a new home for themselves, and searches for just the right person to give JJ his "voice."

We got the unique opportunity to sit down with the show's creator Scott Silveri to discuss his inspiration for the series and the challenges he's faced with bringing it to life.

We asked Mr. Silveri how his family reacted once they found out he's was going to write a show about his experiences. He told us that they were incredibly supportive. He also added, "I made it clear from the beginning to them, as I try to make clear to anybody else, this is not their story.This is not my story, or my brother’s or sister's. What’s important to me is to capture a couple of elements, about the time we had growing up. The things that I wanted to play to were that I think choice is very important in how you live your life. I feel like you can take whatever challenge is thrown your way and wallow in it or turn to something. [You can] let it define you or have it make you a better person or more fun person or more interesting person. You can curse the heavens or you can band together and make it work. And that’s what my mom did. That’s what my dad did. And I wanted to celebrate that at every turn. This is intended to be a love letter to my mom and my dad."

So, what was the family's first impression when they read the script? Mr. Silveri told us, "The great thing that I got back from them when I first showed them wasn't flattery or vanity, like 'Oh, there’s gonna be a famous actress playing a version of me,' it was just relief that there was going be a family like ours on TV. And, that’s fantastic, because so much of the experience of families like ours was just feeling invisible and not being heard. I don’t think that’s unique to disability, but it’s certainly the experience of a family with somebody with disability. It’s like people either stare or ignore, and they found it refreshing to have a story like ours told."

With Cedric Yarbrough, who does an incredible job playing Kenneth on Speechless.

I thought it might have been a challenge to find the perfect actor to play JJ. Silveri told us, "When I was thinking about the JJ character, the criterion that I kept coming back to is, 'Is this a character that would exist on TV independent of disability, independent of the wheelchair.' It was the litmus test... if he was simply defined by a wheelchair, that’s telling a story I didn’t wanna tell."

On set with Micah Fowler - photo courtesy of  Louise Bishop of MomStart.

So, when did he know that Micah Fowler was the perfect actor for this? Silveri replied, "The second I saw the tape. We did a wide search. We took tapes in from all over the country. And, there was a funny thing that happened with the casting director, Susie Farris, who I've worked with on a couple shows over a bunch of years. Normally she knows to play the game - not just with me - with any producer. She doesn’t sell it too hard. You know, when you want to sell somebody something, you try to make it their idea. With Micah she said, 'This is the one. We’re done. I’m sending you a tape. You’re gonna like it or I’m gonna quit.' I saw him and he lights up the screen. He’s funny. He’s so expressive. He doesn’t have the benefit of words... And, you know, I write words. So, it’s a challenge for us [to find] the best way for him to express himself without them. It’s a challenge for him making this stuff work, being present in the scene without lines. But, he did it from, from Day 1."

He didn't stop there though. Silveri had a lot of kind words to say about his brilliant cast. He said, "I feel super lucky. It’s hard to find kids that aren’t 'cutie pie', you know? I feel super lucky with these guys.They’re real. They can carry scenes. With a lot of shows, you’re lucky if you have one character who can go out in the world and mix it with them. We’ve been deliberate about stretching and having them go out and giving each of them the opportunity. And they can do it."

On set with Minnie Driver and John Ross Bowie

According to many reviews and families of people with disabilities, Silveri and his cast and crew have "nailed it" and we wanted to know how that felt for him. Mr. Silveri told us, "I will say that the reception we have gotten from families in this community is sincere. I was really surprised that so many people gave it a shot and embraced it. I'm deeply grateful to those who didn't write it off before it aired. All I banked on was that we did our homework. We talked to parents, kids like this, we have a partner in the Cerebral Palsy Foundation where we run ideas by them... I can tell you our hearts are in the right place."

So, besides the overwhelmingly positive reception, has anything else surprised Scott Silveri about Speechless? He said he was surprised to hear that so many families are watching it together. "I didn't expect that people would watch with their kids. So I'm acutely aware of that and writing towards that." That's good news for parents who want to keep things a bit more PG during primetime viewing hours.

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Speechless airs on Wednesdays at 8:30 PM / 7:30 PM CT.