--- description: For our 2013 Great Performances portfolio, TIME spoke with John Hawkes about his role as Mark O’Brien in The Sessions. title: Great Performance: John Hawkes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc46a2d5c60ba9724/69868ad9810bbb4d45c91126/130218095988low.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Great Performance: John Hawkes by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2013 12:59 PM CUT  John HawkesPerformance: Mark O’Brien in The Sessions “Mark O’Brien used to say that disabled people are invisible to able-bodied people,” says Hawkes, who plays the writer and polio survivor in The Sessions. “In between takes, I’d stay on a gurney, and crew members would set sandwiches and wardrobe people would lay coats on me. I got some idea of what it’s like to be thought of as furniture.” John HawkesPerformance: Mark O’Brien in The Sessions “Mark O’Brien used to say that disabled people are invisible to able-bodied people,” says Hawkes, who plays the writer and polio survivor in The Sessions. “In between takes, I’d stay on a gurney, and crew members would set sandwiches and wardrobe people would lay coats on me. I got some idea of what it’s like to be thought of as furniture.”Paola Kudacki for TIME by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2013 12:59 PM CUT **John Hawkes** **Performance:** Mark O’Brien in _The_ _Sessions_ “Mark O’Brien used to say that disabled people are invisible to able-bodied people,” says Hawkes, who plays the writer and polio survivor in _The Sessions_. “In between takes, I’d stay on a gurney, and crew members would set sandwiches and wardrobe people would lay coats on me. I got some idea of what it’s like to be thought of as furniture.” The Performers Speak: --- [Amy Adams](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWR "undefined") [Sally Field](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWA "undefined") [John Hawkes](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWH "undefined") [Quvenzhané Wallis](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWC "undefined") [Anne Hathaway & Hugh Jackman](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWP "undefined") [Christoph Waltz](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWN "undefined") [John Goodman](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWJ "undefined") [Naomi Watts](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWF "undefined") [Jessica Chastain](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gWL "undefined") [**See a Compilation of Highlights from the 2013 Great Performers**](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gUQ "undefined") [**More Portraits of the 2013 Great Performers by Paola Kudacki**](http://wp.me/p1d6cx-gSU "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3796524/great-performance-john-hawkes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3796524/great-performance-john-hawkes/"},"headline":"Great Performance: John Hawkes","datePublished":"2013-02-07T12:59:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:02:10.152Z","description":"For our 2013 Great Performances portfolio, TIME spoke with John Hawkes about his role as Mark O’Brien in The Sessions.","url":"https://time.com/3796524/great-performance-john-hawkes/","keywords":["Oscars"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc46a2d5c60ba9724/69868ad9810bbb4d45c91126/130218095988low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo Department","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo-department/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc46a2d5c60ba9724/69868ad9810bbb4d45c91126/130218095988low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"00120_017_V3_CMYK.JPG","caption":"00120_017_V3_CMYK.JPG","creditText":"Paola Kudacki for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3796524/great-performance-john-hawkes/","name":"Great Performance: John Hawkes"}}]}] ```