Title:
Down Syndrome, Hollywood & Big Dreams with Dashiell Meier
Subtitle:
How a rising filmmaker is challenging stereotypes, starring in 21 Down, and changing disability representation through storytelling.
Alycia Anderson: Welcome to Pushing Forward with Alycia, a podcast that gives disability a voice. Each week, we will explore topics like confidence, ambition, resilience, and finding success against all odds. We are creating a collective community that believes that all things are possible for all people. Open hearts, clear paths, let’s go.
Welcome back to Pushing Forward with Alycia. I’m Alycia Anderson, your hostess with the mostest, and okay, friends, so today we’re gonna talk about movie sets, big dreams, and who gets to tell the story in those. it is October, which is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and today’s guest is bringing his creativity, his perspective, and disability pride into the spotlight and the stage. Dashiell Meier is an actor, filmmaker, storyteller, student, athlete, advocate, we have that in common. and so naturally my first question is, do you ever sleep, because your list of accolades is quite long. Is that a yes or no? Do you sleep?
Dashiell Meier: Yes, I do still sleep, but my mind’s always active.
Alycia Anderson: I like it. Okay, so he stars in Caden Cox alongside Ashley Judd, yes, I said that, big stars, in the upcoming film 21 Down, and creates his own stories through films like Day 21 and This Is Me. His advocacy has taken him from the classrooms at Stanford, wow, to corporate stages and the United Nations, where he has spoken about health equity, that is so important. And through all of it, he’s challenging, love this, stereotypes and showing how we see people matters. Welcome to the show. I’m so happy we’re finally doing this. I had to rebook twice because of some personal reasons, so thank you for putting up with me, and welcome. It’s my pleasure to meet you finally.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah, thank you for having me on. This means so much to me. I love talking about advocacy and the things that I’ve been working on. It just brings me joy, and it’s a passion of mine.
Alycia Anderson: I can tell it’s a passion of yours. I’ve been following you on social media for quite some time, and you’ve really got some incredible things in your path and what you’re creating and what you’re building for not only yourself and community, but for just the representation in our world. So congratulations on that. Let’s start with, if you made a movie about yourself and your life, what would you call it? And what song would play when you entered the room?
Dashiell Meier: Okay. I’m really good at this kind of stuff, so the name would probably be, something along the lines of disability pride or something like A day in the life with Dashiell Meier or something.
Alycia Anderson: I like it. And that was kind, a tough question ’cause you’ve already created your own movies. I think it’s absolutely amazing that you’re creative like that, and you’re able to put movie content out there to tell a story. Can you tell us what your life was before the movie credits? How has it been growing up with your disability, and who has helped you find the path of being so confident that you’re putting yourself out there into the world to help other people?
Dashiell Meier: From a very young age, I’ve been telling stories, drawing a lot, and I’m a very creative person, and I’ve alwaysbeen passionate. I’ve always been out there. And I wanna do something with my life, so I’m going to spend my entire life chasing a world where everyone of all backgrounds gets along, and it doesn’t matter of what background you come from. What matters is that we are who we choose to be. And by doing that, we can start to build the foundations of world peace.
Alycia Anderson: Ooh.
Dashiell Meier: And my personal philosophy is that one person can’t change the world, but when communities come together, we can move both heaven and earth.
Alycia Anderson: That’s so beautiful. I think our community as disabled advocates and people in this world, I agree, it’s so important for us to come together, support each other lift each other up, and tell each other’s stories. So I love that you just said that. And I love that you just said that you wanna live the life and be who you want to be.
And I think like for me growing up with, we have different disabilities, but as a wheelchair user and a little girl I always wanted to be certain things, and the world always told me that it wasn’t possible. And to be limited by other people’s beliefs is really something that we need to push through to rise above.
So I love that you’re living with those goals. You talk about community. Can we talk a little bit about the Down syndrome community specifically, and what that community has meant to you, how it supported you, and just over the years.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah. As a person with Down syndrome myself, in the Down syndrome community, I feel that I belong there because we’re all about supporting each other, building each other up. and having a great time. And as a part of that community, someday I hope to make a movie or something to show how thankful I am to my community.
Alycia Anderson: I think that’s a beautiful idea. I think that’s your next film. A community-driven film kind of telling the stories of all of us coming together within your specific community and lifting that up. I think that’s really beautiful. So let’s talk a little bit about your current projects, can we? You’re doing some big things.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: Look at your face. Your face just lit up. Okay, so let’s talk about Caden Cox in 21 Down. You are in this movie alongside Ashley Judd, which is huge. Tell us about the role, the movie and just give us a little glimpse in.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah. I can’t share too much, but right now it’s in post, and it’s the real story about Caden Cox as he, becomes… finding his way into the world of having Down syndrome. And Caden Cox is a young man with Down syndrome who is the first person with Down syndrome ever to score and play in college football, and he’s a kicker. I was so fortunate to meet the actual Caden Cox and getting to know him and all, that was a lot of fun.
The movie is about his life. And what was awesome is that when I was auditioning for this movie, out of all the people who auditioned, Ashley Judd said, “I wanna work with Dashiell.” And that stuck with me, because okay, this is really happening. And so I felt like I was, I’ve always wanted to be in a feature film ever, and it’s been one of my dreams of doing this kind of thing.
And hereI am now. And on that movie, I started to learn how to play the drums and football even though I’m a soccer player. But still, the basic principles, which is awesome. And I got to meet Caden and his family, and they’re just so sweet. And this kid talks to the person.
He has that kinda energy that brings out, the best in other people.
Alycia Anderson: Like your kind of energy. I feel like that’s your energy.
Dashiell Meier: Yes.
Alycia Anderson: I like it.
Dashiell Meier: He has such a big, warm heart.
Alycia Anderson: Ooh.
Dashiell Meier: And I’m so honored to be able to play him and have a fun time with the real guy at the same time. It was just so much fun. I was down in Atlanta, Georgia for two months, and It was like out, out, out of a movie. He just being there. It felt like one of those things where we’re like, ” Is this real or is this not real kind of thing.” So for for me this is really happening, people. I’m not I’m not dreaming.
Alycia Anderson: I’m so happy for you. Congratulations. What a big deal to be on set for two months, to be playing an incredible character from an amazing person. You get to meet him. You’re a soccer player. I hear often that soccer players end up being kickers in football, so that’s amazing that you had that connection. And what was it like being on set every day for two months?
Dashiell Meier: It was really fun. And what’s awesome about this movie, I got to direct the final scene of production, which was so much fun because the director he wanted to help me learn directing. And so what he would do is like show me everything.
He even let me learn how the editing process works by going down into LA and seeing the editors edit the movie. Yes.
And I learned so much about how movies are made, and I got to meet so many outstanding people, and this means so much to me.
Alycia Anderson: You know what’s so cool about that is that he took the time to give you the opportunity to expose you to all of those different roles in a movie, and I feel like that kind of leadership is what will help you in your future reach bigger dreams. When somebody’s like, “I wanna grab your hand and show you how to do something new,” that’s really incredible.
What is your favorite part? After seeing all the different roles, acting, editing, directing what is your dream?
Dashiell Meier: My dream is of course to work at Pixar and be a director.
Alycia Anderson: Okay. I like it. I see that in your future. You’re already on your way.
Dashiell Meier: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: How was it meeting Ashley Judd?
Dashiell Meier: Meeting Ashley Judd was so much fun.
Alycia Anderson: Was it?
Dashiell Meier: We had great chemistry. She is very friendly, very positive, and she makes me feel good every day on set, and off set too when we just hang out.
Alycia Anderson: What did it feel like when you got the call that you got this role?
Dashiell Meier: Funny, I got it over a phone call. And it was right in this very spot when it happened, and it was the director on the call who was like, ” You got the part.”
Alycia Anderson: Oh, that’s … Oh my God, that’s so awesome.
Dashiell Meier: And then the rest of my family, they were happily shocked.
Alycia Anderson: Oh my God, happily shocked, I love it. long had you been acting and going on auditions and all those things before you landed this big break? This is a big break.
Dashiell Meier: I did that for one year.
Alycia Anderson: Oh, one year.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah, about one year, yeah
Alycia Anderson: Amazing. Congratulations.
Dashiell Meier: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: Wow, that feels like a short amount of time. That just shows your talent level right there. That’s amazing. And when does this movie come out?
Dashiell Meier: It again, it’s still in post. We’re still looking for a distributor. Maybe next year, maybe around football season maybe. We’re not sureexactly.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. Okay. That is incredible. Thank you for giving us all a little glimpse into your experience making a movie. That for most of us feels very far away and never anything that we would have a glimpse into, so that’s incredible. Congratulations. Wow.
Dashiell Meier: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: So you’ve written, filmed, and edited a few other movies. Was it this before, I’m assuming, or after 21 Down?
Dashiell Meier: It was before.
Alycia Anderson: Okay.
Dashiell Meier: And after.
Alycia Anderson: Before and after, okay. Tell us a little bit about, I think you filmed a thriller?
Dashiell Meier: Yeah. A thriller suspense called Day 21.
Alycia Anderson: Okay, tell us about this .Film
Dashiell Meier: It’s a, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where there’s only people with Down syndrome left and we don’t know why. That’s the basic synopsis. I made it for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, where I’m super grateful for Nic Novicki. He’s a comedian and actor and They have workshops, they have screenings, and they actually help people get jobs.
Alycia Anderson: Amazing.
Dashiell Meier: In the film business.
And I made a five-minute film called Day 21. And the way the film challenge works is you have to make a five-minute movie in five days. You’re given some locations and props that you have to include and when the five days start, you have to start filming that, do everything the day it starts. And the idea came when the pandemic started. My mom said at some point, “What if people with Down syndrome couldn’t get COVID?” And that stuck with me.
Alycia Anderson: Oh.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah, and oh, this is gonna be awesome.
It’s gonna be epic. It’s gonna be, it’s gonna be a sci-fi huge thing. It’s gonna be a huge deal. And when the genre came out, it was thriller suspense, so I was able to turn it around in order to make it a post-apocalyptic, because at that time I was taking this class in myths and legends, and I was into that.
So I could put this in like that for this. Andthat paid off really well. Casting-wise, I wanted to show people with Down syndrome are capable, have worthwhile lives, and that we are awesome people, and that we actually support each other because that’s what I thought that was very genuine
Alycia Anderson: I love that. I’m gonna leave the link to that. I believe I can access the links to those movies, correct?
Dashiell Meier: Yes
Alycia Anderson: We’re gonna link that to the show notes so everybody can go watch. I’m gonna go watch it, too. That’s incredible. Post-apocalyptic is always a little bit scary to me, but I can’t wait to watch it.
I love it that you did a thriller. Congratulations on that.
And again, you’re just so amazing and with how the representation that you’re sharing into the world about all of the possibilities that come from your community. And I think it’s so important because that’s changing the way the world looks at us, at disability, you know, and believes in way more possibilities than is placed on us.
Well done. with all of your advocacy.
Dashiell Meier: And also, when I advocate, I view my films as an extension of my advoc- acy. And in Day21 I was able to cast pretty well-known actors and actresses such as Sofia Sanchez, who was in the latest Hunger Games movie, Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. And Zach Gottsagen, who starred in the Peter Farrelly Falcon movie.
Alycia Anderson: Oh my God, that’s amazing. Congratulations. Wow. I can’t wait to see it.
Dashiell Meier: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: So you mentioned your advocacy. Can we talk about that a little bit? I know you’ve hit a lot of stages. I don’t know if you know what I do, but I’m a professional motivational speaker too, so we’ve got that in common from an advocacy standpoint.
And I know you’ve hit really big stages, from the United Nations to Stanford to all over the place. Let’s talk a little bit about, your speaking and the advocacy that you do on those types of stages.
Dashiell Meier: When I was at the United Nations in New York, I got to meet so many people from around the world. It was so much fun. They all thought I was cool. That’s great.
Alycia Anderson: I’m sure they did.
Dashiell Meier: So that’s a plus. I chaired a panel and gave a speech about health equity for people with Down syndrome and other dis- abilities, which was so much fun.
And I was invited by Down Syndrome International for World Down Syndrome Day, which was awesome because they’re amazing people. And I, also talked about diagnostic overshadowing and have a little story to share.
Alycia Anderson: Okay, I would love that, please.
Dashiell Meier: When I was really young I couldn’t do this and I wouldn’t react at all. So my mom fought to get me a doctor’s appointment but they kept saying it is because he has Down syndrome. and when, I started bleeding out of my ears, someone actually finally took a look, they found out that I had tumors in my ears, which means I was completely deaf.
Alycia Anderson: And so they took those out, and if that didn’t happen, I would not be able to speak or hear anything. Shout out to the mamas out there.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: That speak up and advocate for us when we’re little guys and we need it. Good job, Mom. And so that’s some of the stuff that you’re advocating for is better diagnosis and things like that?
Dashiell Meier: Yes.
Alycia Anderson: Absolutely incredible.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah, I gave a speech called Not Just Down Syndrome because sometimes our symptoms are dismissed just because of everyone keeps saying it’s Down syndrome. And without doing any research or not saying, “Hey, I’ll look I wanna look more in, into this.” There was none of that. And nowadays I’ve been having pretty good doctors who actually see me, as a actual person instead of just labeling me as a person with Down syndrome.
Alycia Anderson: Oh my gosh. That message that you gave is so important, and it happens to all of us. I can’t tell you how many doctor’s appointments I go to as a wheelchair user, and they just go, “Nope, that’s your disability. Nope, that’s your disability.” And just not, we know our bodies. Things happen outside of our disability.
And so I think that type of advocacy that you’re bringing to the table is so important. It’s so needed, and we have to fight until we find those doctors that see us and try to understand for us and advocate for us. That’s a great gift that you’re giving to the world and to not just the Down syndrome community, but the entire disabled community, because we’re all labeled and put in a category a lot, too much. So well done.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah. I started learning about health equity with Special Olympics, and I’ve been taking classes at Stanford for medical school. I was on the Doctor’s Art podcast where I talked about health, my advocacy films, those kinds of things. And mainly to train new doctors to say when you have a patient with a disability recognize them for who they are and don’t label their symptoms as just their dis- ability.
And have genuine respect for them, for who they are really helps.
Alycia Anderson: Oh, you’re so amazing. Yes.
Dashiell Meier: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: Have you gotten a chance to speak at any health companies?
Dashiell Meier: No.
Alycia Anderson: Okay. You and I should connect, ’cause I have a lot of connections and I feel like you need to bring that message to a lot of stages. So we should connect. I think I could probably introduce you to some people, honestly.
Dashiell Meier: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah, if you’re interested.
I don’t know if acting or speaking is your favorite thing. It sounds like you’re doing both, and they go hand-in-hand.
Dashiell Meier: I love them both.
Alycia Anderson: I love it. The health industry needs you on stages saying those things that you say. And that’s really awesome, so thank you for the work that you’re doing with health equity.
That’s a big deal. Those are the things that’ll change the world.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: So it’s Down Syndrome Awareness Month. It just so happens to be. We were supposed to film this last month, and I’m so happy that we put it off, because it’s actually Down Syndrome Awareness Month this month. Talk about a little bit what it means to you to amplify Down syndrome in October.
Dashiell Meier: It’s great. I just get to express myself through my creativity, my art, and just being me. And having a month, an official month for Down syndrome is so cool because we need to be recognized as in society because I feel like there’s a misunderstanding of perspectives going on. And I feel like a way to bridge that gap is by not just celebrating what makes us, but also showing society that we are just as human as, as, as everybody else, and we are not ashamed of it.
We are proud of it. And that’s what and I love my community, and it’s justone of these great things that gets to happen to us because we need these special months and Down syndrome days to actually be able to celebrate our differences. Because I’ve a little saying that I like to say is that our differences makes us stronger and coming together.
I it just means a lot to me.
Alycia Anderson: I love that. And you know what? I agree with you. Your community, is so heartfelt and so lovely to embrace. I feel like your community specifically, out of all the categories of disability, could teach the world how to be a better place, to be honest with you.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: Your spirit is so joyful and happy and lovely and I think if more people lived like that, we would be living in a different world. And you’re the perfect person to be heading any of that advocacy, to be the face of it. So I’m so happy we got to meet today.
Dashiell Meier: Me too.
Alycia Anderson: Oh, good. Okay. So let’s end this interview with a little dream chasing. What is your biggest dream into the future as you move through your career? What billboard do you want to be on one day?
Dashiell Meier: Actually, fun fact, I’ve been on billboards before for Special Olympics.
Alycia Anderson: Amazing.
Dashiell Meier: And in Times Square in New York.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah, that just happened, didn’t it? Weren’t you just on it?
Dashiell Meier: Yes.
Alycia Anderson: That was pretty big.
Dashiell Meier: Yes. But in the future, I am definitely hoping to get a job as a studio director at Pixar Studios but the overarching objective of my future is becoming world famous and the greatest filmmaker in the world. And to use my films to be advocacy.
We need to really communicate that we need… there’s a lot of scarson this earth, and I feel like a great way to heal that is with love, passion, creativity, and respect.
Alycia Anderson: I love that. Did we miss anything that we need to talk about?
Dashiell Meier: Ooh. And I’m working on my very first feature-length documentary called Worthy: A History of Down Syndrome,
Alycia Anderson: Oh.
Dashiell Meier: Exploring the question why people perceive Down syndrome as a bad thing when I see it as a gift. And I feel like the answers lies in the history because of the saying, “To look back to move forward in life.”
And it’s currently in production and I’ve been doing a lot of research. I’ve been to the National Archives and the Library of Congress to look for photos or any documents from US history about Down syndrome history. But the issue is I barely, I hardly found anything because I had to search outdated and unkind terms around Down syndrome because there’s not a lot that was recorded back then and on Down syndrome. And that’s very interesting, which I’m gonna put into my documentary.
Alycia Anderson: Disability history is really interesting. It’s like they documented, some, but not all, because the advocacy that we have today to treat us right was not there back then. You know what I mean? So that is incredibly important for you to be telling the historic story, ’cause I agree with you. The only way we do better moving forward is to understand where we came from, and those hidden stories that are really rough the world needs to know. So that’s, that is a absolutely incredible project. And yeah, congratulations on that. We need to know the history, for sure.
Dashiell Meier: Yeah. And it will be a very positive to show that we are worthy, pun intended.
Alycia Anderson: I love it. Well done, and well done. I am so excited to hear about all these cool things you’re doing. I will be following very closely, fangirling from behind the scenes to see what else you do and what else you create. And honestly, most importantly, who else who else lives you’re gonna change, ’cause I know you are gonna be doing that with all of this work that you’re doing. How do we get in touch with you, follow you, support you, all those things?
Dashiell Meier: Yeah, I’m on Instagram, I’m on Facebook, YouTube. I have a website that you can go to and check out more stuff that I’ve done.
Alycia Anderson: We’re gonna leave all the links to everything so everybody can follow you subscribe, all the things. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Dashiell Meier: It’s my honor to.
Alycia Anderson: Honor. Are you kidding? I want your autograph.
Dashiell Meier: My pleasure.
Alycia Anderson: One of these days we’re gonna meet in Palo Alto and have lunch, okay?
Dashiell Meier: Yes.
Alycia Anderson: All right. I love it.
Dashiell Meier: I just wanna say thank you for having me on. This means so much to me. I love talking about this kind of stuff with people, and I just first wanna say you are such an amazing person. Just being able to talk to you about the things I’m passionate about and what you are passionate about makes me feel good, and keeping your amazing starry self.
Alycia Anderson: Thank you, my starry self. I love it. Okay, so we end the show with a pushing forward moment. What that is you have a little saying or quote or something that you live by to motivate our community as we say goodbye?
Dashiell Meier: This is a direct quote from Walt Disney.
Alycia Anderson: Okay, I like it.
Dashiell Meier: One of the people, I do look up to. And the quote is, it is fun to do the, the impossible.
Alycia Anderson: It is fun to do the impossible. I love it. That’s beautiful. That is all you too. Wow. that is a perfect Pushing Forward moment. Thank you so much. Thank you for coming on the show. Again, we’re gonna leave all of your information so people can find you, follow you, hire you to speak, all the things. And you and I will stay in touch, and this has been Pushing Forward with Alycia, and that is literally how we roll on this podcast.
We will see you next week.
