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Angela Rockwood, known for her sky-high cheekbones and Hollywood resume, worked in the industry long before her injury. She was a model and actress. Modeling for Bisou Bisou and playing “Lexi” on the TV show V.I.P., she was a rising star. She also had a small part in the first Fast and the Furious movie.
After her injury in 2001, a car accident while running a pre-wedding errand, she wasn’t sure if she could return to that world. But after 12 years of putting her career on hold, Angela finally made her return and has been working in the industry since. Read on for her story.
Why She’s Fearless
Coming from a Thai mother and a German father, Angela was born in New Mexico in 1975. She knew at an early age she wanted to work in the entertainment industry, and moved to Hawaii and then to New York to pursue modeling. Struggling with body issues, she decided to become a fitness instructor at the age of 21; a decision that thoroughly changed her life, helping improve negative body image issues.
Living in LA at the time, she began to dabble in acting and soon found herself cast on the TV show V.I.P. in 2001. After becoming an actor, she met Dustin, another actor who had a reoccurring role on 21 Jump Street. They became engaged. Sadly soon after the happy news, her injury occurred. Angela was 26.
Severing her spinal cord at the C4-5 level, Angela’s body had changed instantly. Losing her independence and her world, she was in stasis for 12 years post-injury. Angela however was ready to get back to doing what she loved in 2012, and a TV show was her first target.
After working her Hollywood contacts to death, she made her dream of a reality show featuring women who use wheelchairs finally happen. The show was called Push Girls and aired on the Sundance Channel for two seasons. It featured herself and four other women with paralysis, Mia, Tiphany, Auti & Chelsie, showing an intimate look at their lives, sharing their joys and hardships. The show aired from 2012-2013.
And she’s been in a number of films and TV shows. She was in the short, Handy Man: Mummy, in 2015, and she was in the TV series This Close in 2018. Angela was in two other shorts in 2020 and 2021, The Devils Night and I Solve Problems. And in 2022, she was cast as “Ottila” in Pen pals, a movie starring Jesús Lloveras and Henrik Lundström.
And Angela returned to modeling. She is the first quadriplegic to be featured in a department store campaign at a national-level, and for Nordstrom; a store has been hiring models with disabilities since 1991. Angela has also been a model and is a host the World Poker Tour.
And Angela has worked as an Ambassador for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. She’s also a talented sketch artist. Before her injury, she was offered a job as a composite sketch artist for the LAPD.
What’s Next?
A documentary about her life, produced by Angela herself, was always something she wanted to do, and she is currently working on her “memoirs” so to speak in a documentary she is calling, My Next Breath. And Angela has become a manifest coach, helping empower people by teaching them self love. Angela will alsop speak occasionally on similar topics, sharing her light with others whenever possible and is currently doing amazing things as a host for the World Poker Tour.
ideas@spinalpedia.com
