Crystal was 18 when bone cancer changed her face. On top of chemotherapy and operations, she had to deal with other painful realities too.

She told Sky News: “Pre-cancer, and everything that happened I wasn’t aware how people who had facial differences were villainised or victimised.

“Experiencing that, seeing the trauma, I’ve been so affected by people staring at me in the street, and hate comments about my appearance.”

She believes part of the problem is the screen portrayal of visibly different characters: “There’s a narrative in Hollywood, especially that’s been going on for years, that people are not addressing and seeing that these are real people.”

Refusing to let her differences keep her from pursuing her dreams, Crystal studied acting at LAMDA, one of the UK’s top drama schools.

Now a professional actress, she knows her appearance will always be judged.

“[My visible difference] is on my face. I can’t really hide anything. Every time I talk or enter a room, it’s not like anyone’s fault, I just know that people have that first perception or viewpoint of me.”

With aspirations to one day appear in a Marvel movie, she hopes her drive to perform will help others in the future.

“I didn’t have anyone who looked like me as a role model… It would have just been so much better if I’d had that one person to look up to, to be inspired by.”

Lack of representation is not the only problem. When visible difference does make it onto the screen, misrepresentations and negative overtones often reinforce stigma.

Nearly one in five people in the UK self-identifying as having a visible difference, such as a mark, scar or condition, according to charity Changing Faces.

New research they conducted into the way disfigurement is portrayed on screen found that people with visible differences were over twice as likely to be shown as a victim or a villain than as a love interest.

Film and television have used scars, burns and birthmarks as a shorthand for villainy across the genres for years. From Bond to Batman and Star Wars, to more family-friendly productions such as The Lion King.

And while visibly different characters aren’t common on screen, a woman with a physical difference in film or TV is even rarer.

Author and entertainment journalist Kristen Lopez says it’s because women’s value on screen is so tied up with their sexuality.

The author of Popcorn Disabilities: The Highs and Lows of Disabled Representation in the Movies has even come up with a term to describe the industry’s attempt to keep their leading ladies “sexy and beautiful”.

“You often see what I call ‘pretty disabilities’. It’s a disability that is not going to affect the physical perfection of the actress. And it will also allow for an A-list, usually non-disabled actress, to continue to play the character.”

Lopez says for that reason, films are more comfortable with portraying blind or visually impaired women, deaf women, or non-verbal women, because their disability “doesn’t mar the face”.

Speaking from her own experience of growing up with brittle bone disease, she says: “I worry about the next generation of disabled girls – what are they seeing? Do they feel represented?

“How do you navigate adolescence if you don’t see anybody that looks like you doing the things that every other young person is doing?”

Romeo Olukotun was just one year old when an accident left him with second and third-degree burns on his torso, chest and neck.

With his accident not spoken about at home, he admits, “I just kind of had to deal with that on my own”.

He did find some flashes of inspiration, including from singer Seal.

“I loved how even though he had a visible difference and scarring on his face, he wasn’t looked down because of that. He was seen for his talent.”

With his confidence taking a hit due to his scars while at secondary school and university, he rebuilt his self-esteem as an adult through cheerleading.

Later spotted at a music video shoot he’d gone along to with a friend, he’s now an actor and model. But his visible differences have, at times, affected his casting.

Romeo told Sky News: “Because my scar on my neck looks like I’ve been stabbed, I would often be asked to ‘Try this [performance] like a thug or someone who’s on the streets’. And I didn’t like being labelled as that. I’m someone who is much more than my scars.”

He’s now a man on a mission: “I want to be someone who shows other people with a visible difference that they can be anything. They can play the romantic lead, they can play a villain if they want to. They can be a hero, not just be labelled as someone sinister and evil, Machiavellian.”

While the film and TV industries might be slow to change, LAMDA vice principal Dr Philippa Strandberg-Long is hopeful for the future.

“We have to make our students aware of the industry that they are going into and not, I guess, create a utopia where they’re not aware of the industry they’re going into. However, we can change it from how we educate our students that come out.

“Things won’t change overnight, but it will change over time. So, we have to put in the work at the grassroots, which is here.”

Changing Faces is the UK’s leading charity for anyone with a visible difference. They have a confidential support and information line for anyone dealing with the impact of visible difference.

Former London’s Burning actor John Alford has been found guilty of sexually assaulting girls aged 14 and 15 at a friend’s home.

Jurors heard the 53-year-old, who rose to fame in BBC show Grange Hill, sexually assaulted the girls while they were drunk following a night out at the pub.

St Albans Crown Court was told he bought £250 worth of food, alcohol and cigarettes from a nearby petrol station in the early hours of the morning, including a bottle of vodka which the victims subsequently drank.

Alford then had sexual intercourse with the 14-year-old girl in the garden of the home and later in a downstairs toilet, and inappropriately touched the 15-year-old girl as she lay half asleep on the living room sofa.

He denied four counts of sexual activity with the younger girl and charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to the second teenager at a property in Hertfordshire on April 9 2022.

But, after 13 hours of deliberations, he was found guilty.

Alford, of Holloway, north London, who was charged under his real name John Shannon, had previously told the court the allegations were a “set-up”.

He put his head in his hand and shouted “Wrong, I didn’t do this” from the dock as the verdicts were read out in court.

‘I didn’t want sex with an old man’

During the week-long trial, Alford, who cried while giving evidence, told jurors “I never touched either of them girls”, adding there was “no DNA” evidence and that he would stand by his denial “until the day I die”.

However, the 15-year-old girl said: “We were all just like dozing off. That was when John started to touch me.”

Asked how she felt after the assault, the girl said: “Sick. I felt absolutely sick. I wasn’t going to tell anyone.”

In a video of her police interview played to the court, the 14-year-old girl said she had never had sex before the night of the alleged incidents.

“I told him to stop because I didn’t want to have sex with an old man,” she said.

Legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died aged 91 – with the worlds of fashion and showbiz paying tribute to a “giant” and a “master of his craft”.

The Italian billionaire died at home surrounded by his family on Thursday.

“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” his fashion house said.

Tributes flood in for Armani – as it happened

“Il Signor Armani, as he was always respectfully and admiringly called by employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones.

“Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections, and the many ongoing and future projects.”

A funeral chamber will be set up at Milan’s Armani Teatro for people to pay tribute between 9am and 6pm this weekend.

Armani did not appear at his runway shows in Milan for the first time ever in June as he recovered from an unknown illness.

Only a week ago, when he was interviewed by the Financial Times, he revealed he “oversaw every aspect of the show remotely via video link”.

“My greatest weakness is that I am in control of everything,” he told the newspaper. “Everything you will see has been done under my direction and carries my approval.”

‘A symbol of the best of Italy’

Italy’s President Giorgia Meloni was among the first to pay tribute.

“Giorgio Armani leaves us at 91 years old,” she wrote on X.

“With his elegance, sobriety, and creativity, he was able to bring lustre to Italian fashion and inspire the entire world. An icon, a tireless worker, a symbol of the best of Italy. Thank you for everything.”

Fellow fashion mogul Donatella Versace followed, saying: “The world has lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever.”

American designer Ralph Lauren said he “always had the deepest respect and admiration” for Armani.

Dame Anna Wintour, who this year stepped down as head of American Vogue after 37 years, said the designer “understood power and attitude and elegance as well as anyone ever has in fashion”.

Julia Roberts, who famously wore Armani menswear to the Golden Globe awards in 1990, shared a picture of the pair together on Instagram with the caption: “A true friend. A Legend.”

American model Cindy Crawford called him a “master of his craft” – while the Italian football world also offered its condolences.

Juventus described him as a “timeless icon of elegance and Italian style”.

Inter Milan, who Armani supported, said he was “an icon of our city, a fashion legend who, with his creativity and elegance, knew how to tell the story of Italianness around the world”.

Legendary film director Martin Scorsese also paid tribute, heralding Armani as “more than a clothing designer”.

“He was a real artist, and a great one – people use the term ‘timeless’ quite often, but in his case it happens to be true,” said Scorsese.

Armani contributed to the wardrobe design for the director’s 1995 film Casino, creating suits for Robert De Niro’s character, Ace Rothstein.

The pair came together again for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), where Armani this time suited up Leonardo DiCaprio.

‘King Giorgio’

Born in the small northern Italian town of Piacenza in July 1934, Armani originally wanted to be a doctor but changed his mind after a part-time job as a window dresser at a Milan store exposed him to fashion for the first time.

As one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, he is often credited with spearheading red carpet fashion and was planning a major event during Milan Fashion Week this month to mark 50 years of his brand.

He put Italian ready-to-wear style on the map in the late 1970s with his signature ‘Armani suit’ before adapting its classic style for women with the launch of the female ‘power suit’ in the 1980s.

He also dressed Hollywood and music stars, including Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Lady Gaga.

Read more:
From Gere to Gaga: Armani’s best celebrity looks

Armani, or Re Giorgio (King Giorgio) as he was widely known, worked on more than 200 films, most notably earlier in his career on American Gigolo with Richard Gere in 1980.

He was awarded both the French Legion of Honour and Italian Order of Merit for Labour for his contributions to the fashion industry.

With an empire of more than £7.44bn at the time of his death, his work expanded beyond clothes to home furnishings, perfumes, books, flowers, bars, clubs, and restaurants.

He also owned the basketball team EA7 Armani Milan, better known as Olympia Milano.

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Armani sparked controversy in 2015 for comments he made about fashion choices among gay men – and previously in 2009 when his company was forced to settle with the Italian tax authorities over its offshore subsidiaries.