Clarke Central High School junior Troy Deslatte laughs with senior Luis Vicente as they practice lines for the upcoming school production. Deslatte has always envisioned himself as an actor and enjoys playing different roles. “I’ve kinda always wanted to do that since I was like a little, little kid,” Deslatte said. “I just always liked pretending to be someone else, which is what acting is.” Photo by Julie Alpaugh.
By SARA GOODIE – Iliad Literary Art Magazine Editor-in-Chief
Junior Troy Deslatte has dwarfism, but he refuses to let his condition limit him.
At 4’6”, junior Troy Deslatte is shorter than most students his age. But in terms of personality, he has always been larger than life.
“Whenever someone’s counting the number of students and they go, like, ‘28 students,’ I go, ‘No, 27 and a half,’ and then everyone laughs,” Deslatte said. “I think it also kind of shows people that I’m open about this and it’s OK to make jokes about it.”
But despite being open about his dwarfism, Deslatte says that other than his mom Angela Powell, who also has his condition, he has only ever seen one other person with dwarfism in Athens. Being the only people with the condition can make going out in public difficult at times.
“People in grocery stores like just stare at me as I walk by,” Deslatte said. “Kids, they just stop and they just like look at me and my mom. Sometimes I hate it, sometimes I make faces at them,” Deslatte said.
Deslatte has a cross between multiple epiphyseal dysplasia and pseudoachondroplasia, a combination of growth-restrictive conditions that has run in his family for four generations.
“It began with Troy’s paternal great-grandfather and has been passed down to at least one child in each generation since then,” Powell said. “Dwarfism is very unique based on each person, so the challenges I experience medically are different in many ways than those Troy will experience.”
Other than his height, Deslatte’s condition also comes with medical implications. His knees bent at an angle since childhood, and in second grade, he underwent surgery to correct this. The surgery was largely ineffective, so doctors operated on his legs again over the summer after his sixth grade year. The procedure mainly focused on his left leg, which was worse than the right.
“They actually went in there and cut the bone and twisted it, and I had a full leg cast all summer. And what’s funny is that was supposed to fix it, but it didn’t. It actually made it a lot worse,” Deslatte said.
Along with the ongoing medical procedures, there are other things that Deslatte’s body cannot do that average-height bodies can. His joints are sensitive and he is unable to stand for more than several minutes without his legs hurting. For this reason, he has started wearing a knee brace.
“Some people just think, ‘Oh, he’s just short. That’s it. That’s all that it does.’ There’s a lot more to it than just that,” Deslatte said. “If we we’re walking Downtown with some friends or whatever, they can walk all of Downtown and be just fine. But I’m sitting there after like two or three streets and my legs are in pain, they’re on fire, I want to sit down and they’re not stopping.”
This year, Deslatte has started exercising regularly in the body sculpting class at Clarke Central High School and the Crunch Fitness gym in Athens. Though physical fitness is important for everyone, it is crucial for maintaining his joint strength.
“Having dwarfism limits the amount of activity I can do, so weight lifting is a really good one because it doesn’t require getting hurt if you know how to do it properly,” Deslatte said. “And it’s nice when you go home, you take off your shirt and there’s a six pack there.”
But Deslatte’s dwarfism is not what defines him. In fact, a major part of his identity is his love for theater and his dream to be an actor.
“I’ve kind of always wanted to do that since I was like a little, little kid. Well, littler,” Deslatte said. “Sixth grade was when I did my first show and I got like this side role. It was a dumb little kid’s show. It was called ‘King Arty and the Knights of the Rad Table.’ Looking back on it now it was kind of dumb, but it was cool for the first experience I had had.”
In his three years at CCHS, Deslatte has acted in the drama department’s productions of “The Lottery,” “Cabaret” and “Noises Off.” He has also performed as the lead character Shrek in “Shrek the Musical” at the Athens Little Playhouse Children’s Theatre. He is currently the Vice President of the CCHS Drama Club.
“He is clearly passionate about drama because he does it outside of school as well as inside,” senior and Drama Club President Isabelle Germain said.
Clarke Central High School junior Troy Deslatte reads play lines with senior Derek Mueller. Deslatte has been in several school productions and enjoys performing. “I like being (at CCHS) and doing the way bigger shows, and doing shows with other community theaters around,” Deslatte said. “It’s pretty cool and opening my eyes up more for stuff.” Photo by Julie Alpaugh.
Many other drama students agree Deslatte’s acting abilities are unaffected by his physical condition. Although his legs hurt during long scenes, he takes ibuprofen before performing and powers through.
“He can act, and he has a good British accent for some stuff,” junior and fellow actor Mea Melnik said. “He just does it and goes for it, and then does it good. And nobody ever says anything.”
Deslatte says his inspiration is “Game of Thrones” actor Peter Dinklage who, among other famous actors of short stature, has found success in the acting industry.
“Peter Dinklage is kind of what I want to be. Actually, no, he’s exactly what I want to be,” Deslatte said. “And it’s cool to see someone with dwarfism in that field because it’s crazy competitive. Because sometimes the movie parts, they judge you based on your height. And so if you have dwarfism and you’re wanting to go for the main role, there’s a very good chance they won’t pick you,” Deslatte said.
Powell supports her son’s aspirations, citing Dinklage, as well as actor Warwick Davis, as proof that people with dwarfism can be well-respected actors.
“Many little people have paved the way in the film industry for actors like Peter Dinklage to rise to the top in this profession. I fully support Troy in pursuing this as his profession,” Powell said. “There is a place for people of short stature in the industry. And it’s not just playing elves and leprechauns and other ‘non-human’ roles.”
Deslatte is prepared to work for the career he wants. He is considering starting a YouTube channel this summer as a free way entertain publicly. “A lot of YouTubers actually become actors,” Deslatte said. “They’re not big name actors, but they become actors, and I feel like if I did that, I could work my way up. Because there’s also Dylan O’Brien, who started off making ridiculous videos on YouTube, and now he’s a huge actor.”
Deslatte plans to hold off on college and move to California after of high school. His overall goal is to act in movies and TV.
“Sometimes, people forget the people that dwarfs are humans, too. Sometimes, they treat us like there’s something wrong with us so they just push us aside,” Deslatte said. “I want to be kind of like Peter Dinklage just to be able to show that, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ Just because I’m shorter than the average person and look different and have a disability doesn’t mean I still can’t do this.”
