VIDEO: Bionic Actress: Angel Giuffria at SXSW 2018 * 2024
VIDEO: Bionic Actress: Angel Giuffria at SXSW 2018 * 2024

Born without a left forearm and using myoelectric limb prostheses from infancy

In her experience, using myoelectric limb is individual. She was born without a forearm and at a very young age, six weeks old, She has a passive prosthesis, which was like a toy doll’s hand, to get used to the weight and the two-handed activities. Then, at four months, she was given a myoelectric hand that used the electrical energy of my muscles, so she could move her prosthesis with her own muscles. It was a completely unique case and made possible by several things.

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Angel started working in film in 2007

Actor, writer, producer, psychologist; she has been involved in over 20 productions since her start and has worked as a background performer on films such as the Green Lantern. She is also known for Twisted Metal (2023), Chicago Med (2015) and Snowpiercer (2020). Also, was seen in the API 2016 Super Bowl commercial, played roles in The Accountant, The Hunger Games, The White Rabbit Project on Netflix & the New Season of Goliath on Amazon.

The first character like she that remember was Captain Hook, who, needless to say, was not a very positive character. Ironically, her first film experience of a character like her in a positive light was an animated film, Finding Nemo has a ‘lucky fin’, which is nothing more than a stunted right fin, so you could say he is disabled, but that wasn’t what the film was about, it was a natural part of his life, like my life with a missing forearm.

The way they dealt with this in the film made it extremely easy for me to explain to the little kids that she was born this way, it’s not a negative thing, because Nemo can do a lot of things, he just has a lucky fin. There were many times in the past when a child her age was scared of me and cried because she was strange and different, she had never met anyone like me, and then this cartoon character came along and changed things in one fell swoop.

Later on, Furiosa from Mad Max was really cool, she’s a great fighter and a better shooter than Mad Max, even though she’s missing an arm. And it’s all very natural, no one is above it; Furiosa is just like that. Charlize Theron was amazing in the role, and I was very excited to see her playing a character like me, but then I realised that most people didn’t see a woman with a prosthetic limb, but Charlize Theron playing against a green background. I understand of course that she brought the audience into the cinema, but if we don’t get roles like that, then there will never be a chance for a prosthetic person to be the person people go to see a film for.

Myoelectric prosthetic limbs, the timing was also fortunate

Below Elbow Arm Amputee, Congenital. She is the youngest American to be fit with a myoelectric arm (muscled controlled) hand at 4 months old. Throughout the years, Angel has learned that confidence in herself is more important than the arm she wears. It was about this time when the first myoelectric prosthetic limbs for children were becoming available. However, it is usually around the age of two or three when children receive their first prosthesis, which is also the “terrible twos/threes”

Prosthesis Details

Myoelectric TASKA CX hand; myoelectric bebionic small hand and motorized wrist rotator. Custom rolled silicone socket; unique applications on outer frame; internal LED lights; interchangeable ALLELES prosthesis covers.
Activity-specific prosthesis with a flexible inner socket and a BOA adjustable compression system to loosen/tighten the socket; interchangeable terminal devices for the gym, cycling, yoga, archery, and Krav Maga.

Motivational speaker Angel Giuffria likes to refer to herself as a cyborg

She spake about development of prosthetics, the relationship between the human body and technology and the pop-cultural representation of people with prostheses. Angel speaks about how her mom always taught her that what makes her different is actually her strength. She mentions the harm that came along with having such low visibility of disabled people in media when growing up, and how that translated into her believing she shouldn’t take up too much space when acting on set.

Angel also speaks about how far commercials have come in regard to disability representation, and just how far TV and Film still have to go. In terms of her acting career, Angel goes into depth about how her disability has shifted her casting type and how it even changed the framing of her headshots.

She explains her feelings on abled actors portraying characters with disabilities, how to make stories more inclusive, the need to make sets and casting offices more accommodating to those with disabilities, her thoughts on being labelled “inspirational” for simply doing everyday tasks. At the end of the day, we all love this industry and should want to open up opportunities for all actors of every community to be able to audition for any role. That love for what we do doesn’t mean it’s not a difficult industry to be in. While Angel has a Master’s degree in Psychology, acting is what makes her heart whole and what she chooses to continue to pursue despite all of its ups and downs. When things get tough, she reminds us that we all just have to keep going and try to do the things that remind us why this is the thing we simply can’t do.

Angel Giuffria has arm bionic is disability advocate * Todo lo relacionado