We were wondering why the animated series would go THERE.  But after a recent episode containing a character with Down Syndrome received some flack from the press and Sarah Palin’s family the 39-year old woman behind the voice has come forward to say she thought it was funny – and guess what she has Down Syndrome.  So the show actually did a good thing by hiring actress Andrea Fay Friedman and allowing her to be ‘herself’?  Checkmate.

Q. How were you hired to do this episode of “Family Guy”?

A.“Family Guy” talked to my dad first, before I knew about “Family Guy,” because I never watched it. But since I’m watching it, it’s really funny. They told me I was going to be animated, they were going to draw me, and I did not have to know the lines by memory. I just had to read it. It was really funny. I enjoyed it. I had a nice time doing it.

Q. Did they specifically tell you that the character you were going to play also had Down syndrome?

A. Yeah, they told me I was playing Ellen, who was Miss Bossy. I didn’t want to be bossy, but since they want me to be bossy, I just had to be as the character. I had to be bossy, as part of my process. That’s the only way to transform the real me to an animated person. So I had to do what an actor does. I just wing it and have fun with it.

Q. When you get asked to play characters who have Down syndrome, does that make you at all uncomfortable?

A. No, I’m proud of it. I’m not embarrassed. But mostly, it doesn’t matter if you have Down syndrome. Really, it just matters to have a different challenge.

Q. When did you find out about the reaction that the episode elicited from Sarah Palin and her family?

A. [laughs] That I did not even know about until my mom told me, “You’re on Channel 4!” And when I watched on Channel 4, on “Extra,” and I saw Sarah Palin with her son Trig. I’m like, “I’m not Trig. This is my life.” I was making fun of Sarah Palin, but not her son.

Q. Do you agree with what she and her daughter Bristol were saying, that the character and the jokes were insulting to people with Down syndrome?

A. It’s not really an insult. I was doing my role, I’m an actor. I’m entitled to say something. It was really funny. I was laughing at it. I had a nice time doing voiceover. It was my first time doing a voiceover, and I had fun.

Tagged as: Andrea Fay Friedman, Cartoon, Down Syndrome, Family Guy, Funny, Parody, Sarah Palin, Trig