Calle Walton calls her guide dog, Teal, her "best friend" and "loyal companion."
Back in early November, I published a piece about the then-new Netflix limited series All The Light We Cannot See, which features an interview with the show’s accessibility consultant Joe Strechay. The series is based on Anthony Doerr’s 2014 bestselling book about a Blind girl named Marie-Laure who, while living in Nazi-occupied France in World War II, hides out in her uncle’s home and forges a strong connection with a German soldier over their mutual fascination with radio technology.
The part of Marie-Laure eventually went to Aria Mia Loberti. Calle Walton, a 24-year-old actress who has been Blind since she was 8 years old after being diagnosed with a rare and hard-to-detect cancer called germinoma, read Doerr’s book and hoped it someday would get the Hollywood treatment. Her agent gave her lines to read for the audition to play Marie-Laure, which thrilled Walton, but she obviously didn’t get the part. In a recent interview with me, Walton said she’s “happy” they casted a young Blind woman for the role, adding she’s thrilled All The Light We Cannot See has audio descriptions and she “typically don’t watch shows without it anymore… [it’s] another accessibility feature that I hope more networks [and] streaming services will adopt.”
Walton appeared in the Netflix series In The Dark. The show follows a young Blind woman who investigates her friend’s death and becomes embroiled in the Chicago drug scene. Walton played Chloe Riley.
Walton initially had a difficult time transitioning to her new life as a Blind person after losing her eyesight. She felt physically terrible after enduring chemotherapy and radiation, but said her emotional wellbeing was in arguably worse shape. “I was a mess. I was terrified about what my life would be like. I was angry that the cancer wasn’t found sooner,” Walton said. “I felt alone and depressed because I thought my life was over. I felt helpless and disabled. I was worried and bitter that I would spend the rest of my life having to rely on people to do things for me.”
Things eventually got better for Walton. With a strong support system in her family and friends, she learned how to adapt to her new reality as a Blind person. She practiced everyday skills like navigating around her house and getting toothpaste on her toothbrush instead of all over the vanity. Walton’s mother discovered the W Ross MacDonald School for the Blind, located in Ontario, Canada, where Walton further learned practical skills as a Blind person. Walton attended school there for a year-and-a-half, telling me the school’s motto is “the impossible is only the untried” and she feels strongly she’s “accomplished a lot with the mindset of staying positive, trying everything, and never giving up.”
Blindness has its limitations of course, so Walton can’t do everything independently. She can’t hop in the car and go for a little joyride, for example. One of the most essential tools in her arsenal of accessibility aids is her guide dog named Teal. Walton described her as a “black labrador with super soft, big floppy ears” who is a “very happy and energetic dog.” Walton and Teal came together through Guiding Eyes For The Blind, the New York-based organization I’ve covered in this space on a few occasions. Walton said she knew she someday would want a guide dog, but acknowledged she needed time for herself to process and acclimate to her life as a Blind person. She called meeting Teal “love at first sight” and the pair bonded instantly and became inseparable. Having Teal by her side meant Walton felt more comfortable with doing college on her own, saying her desire to go to school was a big driver in doing the training program at Guiding Eyes.
“I didn’t think I could manage maneuvering around a campus with just a cane. I was certain a guide dog would make me feel more confident and independent in my ability to move around a crowded campus,” Walton said of the benefits of meeting Teal. “A cane can’t find an empty seat in a classroom. It doesn’t walk me around an obstacle. It can’t help me ‘find inside’ if I get disoriented between buildings. Teal is much more than just my guide—she is my best friend and loyal companion.”
The training program at Guiding Eyes was “incredible,” she added.
“In everyday life, I’m so much more independent with Teal in my life. She has all my routes memorized around university so it’s seamless for me to get from one class to the next, or to the cafeteria, or the pool, or back to the elevator button to take me up to my dorm room where she locates my room in a maze of hallways filled with doors. She recognizes my mom at the airport when I’m flying home for the holidays and can get me to my mom’s car in a parking lot.” Walton said of her relationship with Teal. “Teal gives me a reason to get up everyday. I need to feed her and care for her as well as she cares for me. She makes me feel whole.”
When asked about how technology plays a role in her life, Walton told me she primarily uses an iPhone and iPad paired with a Bluetooth keyboard. She’d like to use a Chromebook, but said she’s struggled using screen-reading software such as JAWS or NVDA that are used with those machines. She was enthusiastic about the Apple products in her life, telling me she feels the company makes “the best accessibility features for me” and noted she relies heavily upon VoiceOver to navigate iOS and iPadOS. In terms of apps, Walton mentioned SeeingAI, Be My Eyes, and VoiceDream Reader as some favorites of hers. Walton also uses Tile trackers for keeping tabs on her things, as well as a couple Perkins Braillers for making playing cards for games she enjoys playing.
To come full circle, Walton said she “definitely” believes disability representation on film and television is improving. There still is a long way to go, she said, but noted “it does seem to be heading in the right direction.” As Hollywood historically has used sighted people to portray blindness on screen, Walton said she thinks it’s a good thing showrunners are depicting disability with more authenticity.
“The acting industry is amazing. I loved my time on the set of In The Dark,” Walton said. “I learned so much about the time and energy put into the production of a show. I met some amazing actors, producers, directors, writers and crew members who were all so incredibly helpful and supportive. I’m so grateful to have had that opportunity and hope I have more opportunities to work on a show or a movie.”
Now in her second year of college pursuing a degree in education, Walton said her other ambition besides acting is to teach Blind and visually impaired children. She wants her future students to know they’re capable of “[conquering] any dream they put their mind to.”

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