Jessica Darrow, Luisa, and the Space for Visibility on One’s Own Terms

Disney's Castle

When representation is not just claimed but allowed

Sometimes it is not big press releases, campaigns, or grand promises that make visibility feel real. Sometimes it is a stage design, a stylistic choice, or a deliberate decision. A moment when you, as a viewer, realize: someone here was allowed to appear as the person they are, not merely as the smoothest possible extension of a familiar brand.

That was exactly what Jessica Darrow in *Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl* felt like to me.

The concert production

Many people know Darrow as the English-speaking voice of Luisa Madrigal in Disney’s animated film *Encanto* (2021). Among other songs, they performed “Surface Pressure,” which was certified platinum by the RIAA and reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. ¹ Luisa is strong, burdened to the point of overwhelm, and vulnerable beneath the surface, and for that very reason, she has become much more than a side character for many people.

In November 2022, Disney brought the concert production Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl to the stage of the famous open-air venue in Los Angeles. On two nights, November 11 and 12, 2022, the full original cast performed. ² The production was created by Disney Concerts, AMP Worldwide, Fulwell 73, and Live Nation-Hewitt Silva and was staged by choreographer Jamal Sims, who had already been involved in the original film. An 80-piece orchestra and a 50-member dance ensemble accompanied the performance. ³ On December 28, 2022, a recorded version was released on Disney+, officially marketed as a "live-to-film concert experience." ⁴

So this was not a traditional stage reinvention but a deliberate live continuation of the film universe audiences already knew.

Jessica Darrows styling

It became especially interesting where the format did not simply copy the film. Jessica Darrow did not appear in the closest possible reproduction of the animated character. Instead, they wore a purple glitter suit, surrounded by dancers in dresses that more closely resembled Luisa’s familiar look. That choice stood out, not in an intrusive way, but in the kind of way you notice when you have learned to pay attention to subtleties. Darrow had previously told Deadline that they sometimes felt like “old Disney” with their tattoos and short haircut. Disney, they said, had allowed them to remain authentically themselves. ⁵

And that is where a particular kind of power lies.

Because representation is not only a question of who is allowed to be visible at all. It is also a question of how that visibility is shaped. Do queer people have to squeeze themselves into existing images so a corporation can decorate itself with diversity? Or are they truly given the space to remain true to themselves, even when that stands in direct contrast to familiar gendered expectations?

With Jessica Darrow, I had the sense that something more was happening than simple casting politics. It seemed that the performer had not been made invisible in order to force the character as neatly as possible into a traditional mold. Instead, it felt as though Disney had allowed Darrow to appear as Luisa while still remaining recognizably Jessica Darrow. That is not a small thing. It is exactly the difference between decorative diversity and genuine respect.

The 2022 Oscars and the political dimension

Darrow had already taken a clear public stand months before the Hollywood Bowl performance. On the red carpet at the Academy Awards in March 2022, during a night when Disney was politically under pressure, Darrow told *Deadline* how happy they were to represent queer people: “Here I am being queer and gorgeous and I’m on the red carpet, and I’m very happy to represent fellow gorgeous queer people that consume Disney.” ⁶ The LGBTQIA+ community, they said, was “the face of Disney at the end of the day.” ⁷

The context matters here. At the time, Disney was in the middle of a major controversy surrounding Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, officially the Parental Rights in Education Act. The law prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools from kindergarten through third grade. ⁸ CEO Bob Chapek initially hesitated to take a public position, which sparked significant anger both inside and outside the company. Employees walked out, and statements from Pixar and other Disney subsidiaries became public. ⁹ Only after that pressure did Chapek distance himself from the legislation, apologize internally, and announce a five-million-dollar donation to LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations, which the Human Rights Campaign initially declined. ¹⁰

In that environment, Darrow’s statement on the red carpet was not just personal but political. That one sentence already names something conservative debates still prefer to ignore: queer people do not stand outside our pop culture. They have always been part of it. They have sustained it, loved it, criticized it, and helped shape it. They are not the disturbance in the picture. They have long belonged within it.

Visibility as a process

One important chronological qualification is necessary here: Darrow identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them and elle/le/e pronouns. That only became publicly known in December 2025. ¹¹ At the time of the Hollywood Bowl concert in November 2022, that information was not part of the public conversation. Anyone watching the performance then did so without that context.

That changes the reading of the evening, but not in a way that makes it less meaningful. In fact, it may make it even more interesting. Visibility for nonbinary people often does not begin with loud declarations but with choices about clothing, presence, and body language. And sometimes it happens long before the words for it are publicly found or spoken.

Anyone who waits for representation to be announced in giant glowing letters often misses the more important moments. The ones in which people are simply allowed to be there, without being corrected, smoothed over, or forced into a norm.

Disney as a contested actor

Disney, of all companies, is not a neutral actor in all of this. For years, the corporation has existed in a tension between commercial calculation, public pressure, and questions of queer visibility. The controversy around the “Don’t Say Gay” law showed how hesitant company leadership can be when political backlash arises. ¹² That makes it all the more noteworthy when, within such a tightly controlled and brand-conscious environment, a performer is not reduced to a single expected image.

You do not have to romanticize Disney to acknowledge that such choices have an effect. Visibility is not created only by characters on a screen. It is also created by which people behind those characters are brought to the forefront and whether they are allowed to remain recognizably themselves.

What remains

That is why Jessica Darrow as Luisa is, to me, more than just a charming detail from a concert special. It is a small but powerful example of what representation can actually look like. Not as a marketing term. Not as a fig leaf. But as a lived decision: you are part of this, and you do not have to hide for us.

Moments like that may not change the world overnight. But they do shift something. They show viewers that gender, presentation, and expression do not have to be as narrow as pop culture has told us for decades. And young people, especially, notice very clearly whether they are merely tolerated somewhere or whether space is truly being made for them.

That is why images like these still matter. Not because they solve everything. But because they make visible what is possible.

Yours, Lizbeth

Jessica Darrow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessdarrow_/

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Sources

1. Wikipedia – Jessica Darrow (Stand: April 2026). Biografie, Karriere und Discografie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Darrow

2. Disney Fandom Wiki – Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl. Aufführungsdaten (11./12. November 2022), Besetzung, technische Details. https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Encanto_at_the_Hollywood_Bowl

3. AMP Worldwide – Produktionsdetails zu Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl (Regie, Choreografie, Bühnendesign, Orchestergröße). https://amp-worldwide.com/artist/encanto-an-immersive-live-to-film-concert-experience/

4. Disney+ / OnDisney – Offizielle Beschreibung von Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, Erscheinungsdatum 28. Dezember 2022. https://ondisneyplus.disney.com/movie/encanto-at-the-hollywood-bowl

5. Deadline Hollywood (28. März 2022) – Darrows Statement auf dem Roten Teppich der Oscarverleihung, inkl. Aussage zu Tattoos, Haarschnitt und Authentizität. https://deadline.com/2022/03/oscars-encanto-jessica-darrow-disney-dont-say-gay-bob-chapek-1234988205/

6. Deadline Hollywood (28. März 2022) – Originalzitat Jessica Darrow auf dem Oscars-Roten Teppich. https://deadline.com/2022/03/oscars-encanto-jessica-darrow-disney-dont-say-gay-bob-chapek-1234988205/

7. PinkNews (28. März 2022) – Encanto star Jessica Darrow declares LGBT+ people the 'face of Disney'. https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/03/28/encanto-jessica-darrow-oscars-disney-lgbt/

8. Wikipedia – Disney and Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act (Stand: August 2025). Gesetzestext, Chronologie der Kontroverse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_and_Florida%27s_Parental_Rights_in_Education_Act

9. Wikipedia – Disney and Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act. Statements von Pixar-Mitarbeiter:innen und internen Disney-Beschäftigten. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_and_Florida%27s_Parental_Rights_in_Education_Act

10. CNBC (11. März 2022) – Disney pauses political donations in Florida, CEO Chapek apologizes for silence over 'Don't Say Gay' bill. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/11/disney-pauses-political-donations-in-florida-over-dont-say-gay-bill-backlash.html

11. Wikipedia – Jessica Darrow (Stand: April 2026). Darrow ist nichtbinär und verwendet they/them- sowie elle/le/e-Pronomen seit Dezember 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Darrow

12. Deadline Hollywood (9. März 2022) – Disney CEO Bob Chapek finally comes out against Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill. https://deadline.com/2022/03/disney-bob-chapek-dont-say-gay-florida-1234974584/