What I don't like about the way the media portrays religion is that they seem to weaponize it and use it as a tool to divide people. Zach Anner More Quotes by Zach Anner More Quotes From Zach Anner I have one of the worst voices in the history of recorded time. Zach Anner worst voice The waiter just flashed me something that said, "Chew bubblegum." Every morning, when I was about to go to the Oprah competition, my friend used to say this line in a video game to me: "It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum." There's a strict policy that you can't encourage anyone on a reality show, that would give them an edge. Zach Anner games morning reality I'm currently doing a Soul Pancake show called Top of the Monday, which is basically a good morning news show. It's just me being silly, telling people about good news that's going on in the world, putting them in the mood to start their week. Zach Anner monday silly morning Having a son with a disability helps makes Walter White a more sympathetic character. There's no story line that shows Walt Jr. going through the things that you go through as a teenager with a disability. It's always his relationship to other characters. That was my issue with it. Zach Anner teenager character son There was an agent who wanted to book me for Glee. He lied and said I could sing. He was like, "If you need a guy in a wheelchair who has a great voice, I've got your guy!" I was like, "What are you talking about?" . Zach Anner voice talking book I make funny shows and put a positive message out there, showing people who have body image issues that... you don't have to look a certain way. Zach Anner issues people looks I've come to be pretty selective about the type of advocacy that I do, because I kind of feel like it's stronger to just do my work and let it speak for itself. Zach Anner stronger kind speak I haven't spoken to Oprah herself. She had so much going on, since her network show was wrapping up at the time we were shooting. I can't fault her for that. Zach Anner wrapping-up shooting faults The most important thing is to have the conversation, and let people who do make mistakes feel comfortable enough to continue the conversation. Zach Anner important mistake people Technically I can get out of my wheelchair and crawl around and do things, but when I've traveled and they've lost my wheelchair in transit, I feel like I need to be bound to it. My functionality and autonomy are often bound to this. Zach Anner wheelchairs lost needs Call yourself and define your relationship to your chair the way you want to, or your disability the way you want to. Zach Anner disability want way I do a lot of conferences, and I did a campaign with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation called "Just Say Hi." They get celebrities to record little messages about how you start a conversation with someone who has a disability, which is to "Just say hi." Zach Anner foundation records campaigns I always say, once I get in a room, I can sell myself just fine. I know that not everyone who has a disability has the social skills or cognitive skills that I do, and it may be harder for them to navigate through. Zach Anner skills may rooms I feel a lot of personal responsibility to undo the negative stereotypes. I know that it's not coming from a bad place. It's coming from an ignorant place. I can sort of be an ambassador in a subtle way to say, "This is what I am: a comedian, a show host, a writer." It will still always be part of the conversation and people will want to focus on it because there is a culture that is so embedded that if you have a disability, you're someone to be either admired just for living, or be pitied for having to struggle. Zach Anner responsibility struggle people CP is a struggle, but it's also been quite the tool for me to find success and deliver a message. It's something about me that's unique, so it'll open a few doors as well as keep a few closed. If you have the other tools that you develop as an individual, talents, things like that, you can harness this to do positive things in the world. Zach Anner unique struggle doors The thing to do is just make sure that as part of a disability community, we're not isolating ourselves by drawing differences for the sake of progress. Zach Anner drawing differences community I talk about Breaking Bad being the most brilliant show ever, and even minor characters have subtle nuances and are fully drawn. Zach Anner nuance brilliant character There's a whole chapter about my unfortunate manscaping accident. I was so focused on, "I've got to look this certain way and do this to be ready for this." So I missed out on a lot. Zach Anner chapters looks way I didn't have a girlfriend until I was 29, and I thought it was because I'm in a wheelchair. And I realized that it's not that, it's because I listened to what the dismissive part of society was telling me and accepted it as truth. There was nothing that was keeping me from dating or falling in love other than the fact that I was scared of being rejected. And everybody has that fear. That's a universal thing. Zach Anner dating falling-in-love girlfriend Everyone who was here [Sheraton Universal Hotel] when I won still works here, so the two biggest moments in my career are intersecting. It's so cool that I can say "hi" to everybody. Zach Anner careers moments two
