[Ed. note: This article is the first in an ongoing relationship between the Long Beach Post and CinemaBeach, a Long Beach-based movie blog dedicated to independent films and classic cinema. From time to time, we will share relevant stories from their contributors on our site, always posting the first few hundred words along with a link where you can read the rest. It felt appropriate to begin this content sharing adventure with CinemaBeach‘s in-depth piece on Jennifer Kumiyama, a 40 Under 40 winner!]
By Bryan Thompson | Overcoming disability is something that often makes for inspiring cinema, and this year has given us a few great examples of that, including French favorite The Intouchables and Sundance hit The Sessions. But real life is often a little more complicated, if no less inspiring. Up-and-coming actress Jennifer Kumiyama may very well embody that notion. Born with arthrogryposis meant never having the use of her limbs and being confined to a wheelchair. But Jennifer, like the best of cinema’s heroes, was determined to overcome her limitations and triumph. That determination has led to a career as a singer, actress, and spokeswoman, whose latest role places her opposite John Hawkes in the award-winning indie hit The Sessions, about real-life Mark O’Brien, a 38-year-old polio victim who enlists the help of a sex surrogate to finally enter manhood.
“I play Carmen, one of the first people Mark O’Brien interviews on advice from his therapist to talk to other people about their sex lives.”, says Kumiyama. “She has a disability, obviously, and she lives on her own. And she openly shares her experience with sex and having a disability and what it’s like.”
Jennifer Kumiyama can be seen in The Sessions now playing in over 150 theaters nationwide. You can find out more about her work at jenniferkumiyama.com