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Rachel Alana Handler is an American actress, singer and motivational speaker who is best known for playing Chunks in the 2016 horror movie Smothered.

Early life

Handler was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Raised in Linwood, New Jersey, she is a graduate of Mainland Regional High School. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the Westminster Choir College. In her early career she performed with Kelli O'Hara at Carnegie Hall in “The Best of Lerner and Loewe” and had made appearances in Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions.

She did months of rehab from a car accident, and now walks with prosthesis and has become an advocate for actors with disabilities.

Career

In 2015, she was honored as part of Atlantic City Weekly's "Top 40 Under 40" Handler's contributions and interviews on her personal experiences and inclusion of disabled actors in the arts have been featured on Quora, Disabled World, Little Bits of Good, and Backstage.com. Her recent article "Stop Excluding Actors With Disabilities" was posted to the front page of Backstage.

Her acting credits include an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, an episode of Blue Bloods, as "Denise Todd" (uncredited) in Elementary, and starring in the Christa Wells video "Shine". Her appearance as Chunks in Smothered has been well received by the horror community. She has starred in independent films, including Disabilidates, a short film in which she played an amputee going on a first date, Two and Twenty Troubles and Only Those Who Limp Allowed. Her theater credits include Tess Samuels in "The Bipartisan" at the Thespis Theatre Festival, Resident Actor in "The Bats" at The Flea Theater and Hannah in Measure for Measure at Frog and Peach Theatre Co. Handler also appeared in Nicu's Spoon Theater Company's production of Richard III as Lady Anne. Handler also wrote and starred in Inspiration Whore, a one woman show in which Handler, fresh from her accident and recovery, constantly hears people tell her that she is an "inspiration" and works through her conflicted feelings on the topic, ultimately finding the "inspiring spark" inside herself. In 2016 she created an Angie Tribeca spin-off and parody created and written by Handler titled Becky Nolita which features actors with disabilities.

In 2017, Handler filmed a supporting role in the film The Upside, starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. Handler was also profiled in a March 2017 broadcast of Chasing News titled "Dancing Her Heart Out". She is currently working on a screenplay loosely based on her life, as well as filming guest starring roles in Goliath and NCIS: New Orleans. Her appearance in NCIS: New Orleans was met with praise from the online publication The Mighty: "I kept expecting the character’s disability to suddenly become key to the story, but it never did. They didn’t fall into any of the stereotypes of disability we usually see on TV. They never went into detail about her amputation, and it was completely unrelated to why she was in danger. Although she did need to be rescued by the team, she was not depicted as more vulnerable because of her amputation. Nor was it mentioned as an added reason to find her — she needed help because she was a whistleblower trying to expose corruption, not because she had a disability." Handler is also a two time participant of the Easterseals (U.S.) Disability Film Challenge which gives filmmakers – with and without disabilities – the opportunity to collaborate and tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms and support Easterseals’ goal to change the way the world defines and views disability, so everyone can reach his or her potential.

Filmography

References

1. ^ Brunetti, Michelle (September 15, 2012). "Acting Dream Untouched by Amputation". The Press of Atlantic City. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
2. Stephen Holden (April 20, 2010). "Celebrating a World of Happy Endings". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
3. Terruso, Julia (March 3, 2012). "2 women in critical condition after being struck on N.J. Turnpike following minor accident". The Star-Ledger. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
4. "Islander in Critical Condition After Accident on NJ Turnpike". Associated Press. Web. March 3, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
5. Ojutiku, Mak (December 4, 2016). "Jersey City actor never gave up hope after horrific car crash". The Jersey Journal. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
6. "Top 40 Reactions — This year's bright young leaders express thoughts on being selected". Atlantic City Weekly. Web. March 11, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
7. Rashmi Ram / Quora.com. "LimBitless". Retrieved April 2, 2016.
8. Handler, Rachel (November 10, 2012). "Amputee Villains - Portrayal of Amputee's in Film and Theater". Disabled World. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
9. Pekar, Kelly (October 6, 2014). "Week 8 – Embracing the Curveball". Little Bits of Good. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
10. Handler, Rachel (January 4, 2013). "What Is the Role of Disabled Actors?". Backstage. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
11. Handler, Rachel (February 9, 2016). "Stop Excluding Actors With Disabilities". Backstage. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
12. "Movie Review: 'John Schneider's Smothered'". Chicago Now. Web. June 9, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
13. Kristopowitz, Bryan (September 18, 2015). "Smothered Review". 411 Mania. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
14. Jiminez, Christopher (March 31, 2014). "Review: Smothered Turns the Tables on Horror's Icons in a Fun Way". Shock Till You Drop. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
15. "Prosthetic Solutions". Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
16. "Holly Shorts: Disabilidates". Retrieved April 2, 2016.
17. "Two and Twenty Troubles: Official Website". Retrieved April 2, 2016.
18. "Only Those Who Limp Allowed". Retrieved April 2, 2016.
19. Lolos, Gemma (October 7, 2015). "POST: 'RICHARD III, A DIS-HONORABLE TALE' - FLIPPED". PXP by TDF. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
20. Zimmerman, Kevin (September 25, 2015). "New take on 'Richard III' questions what is disability?". Times Ledger. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
21. Tongue in Cheek Theater. "Q&A with Rachel Handler, writer/performer, Plus One Solo Show Fest (April 7&8)!". Retrieved April 2, 2016.
22. Brunetti, Michelle (July 28, 2014). "Linwood actress has film, writes one-woman show on moving beyond amputation". The Press of Atlantic City. Web. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
23. Rachel Handler (April 4, 2016). Angie Tribeca Spin-off - BECKY NOLITA (YouTube).
24. Chasing News (March 2, 2017). Dancing Her Heart Out (YouTube).
25. Willison, Karin (March 7, 2018). "How 'NCIS New Orleans' Is Breaking New Ground for Disability Representation". The Mighty. Web. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
26. "2018 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge".
27. "The 2018 Hollywood Hills Awards Winners". Retrieved April 5, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Rachel Alana Handler at IMDb

• Living people
• Mainland Regional High School (New Jersey) alumni
• People from Linwood, New Jersey
• Actresses from New Jersey
• Westminster Choir College alumni
• American film actresses
• American television actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• Actors from Atlantic County, New Jersey