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Shaylee Mansfield

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Shaylee Mansfield
Born2009 (age 12–13)
Burbank, California, U.S.
Occupation
Years active2013–present

Shaylee Mansfield (born 2009) is a deaf American actress and former YouTuber. Born in Burbank, California, she first gained recognition by making viral videos of her telling Christmas stories in American Sign Language (ASL). She appeared in a Disney "Unforgettable Story", where she met a Minnie Mouse at Walt Disney World who was learning sign language. The video quickly went viral, becoming one of Disney's most-watched ads.

Mansfield made her acting debut in 2019 in Disney's Noelle. The following year, her request for automatic captioning on Instagram garnered attention from several media publications, in addition to popularity on Twitter. She received further recognition for her roles in Netflix's Feel the Beat (2020) and Quiver Distribution's 13 Minutes (2021). In 2022, Mansfield became the first deaf actor to be credited alongside the voice actors for her signed performance on the animated series Madagascar: A Little Wild.

Life and career[]

2009–2018: Early life and viral videos[]

Shaylee Mansfield was born deaf in 2009 in Burbank, California.[1][2][3] Her parents—Sheena McFeely, a former actress,[4] and Manny Johnson—are deaf and run ASL Nook, a website and YouTube channel that teaches people American Sign Language (ASL).[1] Her younger sister, Ivy, is hearing.[4][5] As of 2016, Shaylee attends deaf school.[6]

Mansfield appeared on ASL Nook from 2013 until 2019.[3] She began signing Christmas stories on the channel at age four with The Nightmare Before Christmas. At five, she performed How the Grinch Stole Christmas!; E! said: "We can't remember the last time a holiday story made us smile so much...mostly because she is so into how she tells the story. She is so expressive with her sign-language and facial expressions."[7] In 2015, she enacted Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; HuffPost called her retelling of The Polar Express "beautiful...like you've never seen before".[1]

At a Disney park in 2013, Mansfield met a Tinker Bell who could sign. Three years later, Disney later flew the Mansfield family to Disneyland to film a "Unforgettable Stories" video as a result of this event. The family met a Minnie Mouse, who had recently begun learning sign language. The video went viral, garnering, as of April 2016, 11 million views and becoming the second most-watched of Disney's ads. Adweek highlighted its inclusivity as a major factor in its success, stating "when we see the Mansfield family's moment, we feel that same joy in ourselves".[8] The Mansfields also appeared alongside two other predominantly deaf families in documentary film Born This Way Presents: Deaf Out Loud,[4][9] which aired on A&E on September 12, 2018.[10] The New York Times's Margaret Lyons described it as earnest and the families featured as "incredibly compelling, thoughtful and telegenic".[9]

2019–present: Film roles and Madagascar: A Little Wild[]

In 2019, Mansfield made her acting debut in Disney+ film Noelle as Michelle, a homeless, deaf girl.[11] Despite the film's mixed reception,[12] the role was, according to Variety, helpful to Mansfield's career.[11] In July 2019, she was announced to have joined the cast of Netflix's Feel the Beat,[13] which received ambivalent reviews.[14] In 2021, Mansfield appeared as Peyton, the deaf daughter of Kim (Amy Smart) and Brad (Peter Facinelli), in 13 Minutes. The Hollywood Reporter said she had a "very natural screen presence".[15]

Mansfield met Delbert and Jevon Whetter, deaf consultants on animated series Madagascar: A Little Wild, at the panel for RespectAbility. Following the occasion, Mansfield's mother inquired whether the show needed a deaf actor.[16] After having a "get to know you" meeting with DreamWorks, Mansfield was quickly offered a role on the series.[17] Because of her and the Whetters' previous relationship, Mansfield did not go through the regular casting procedure for A Little Wild. The show's original intention to depict a human boy were adjusted to a little girl named and modeled after Mansfield.[16][18] She was able to choose her own interpreter, which she stated enabled her to "focus on delivering [her] best performance".[16] The animators based the character's actions off her signs using a video reference.[18] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mansfield was required to work via Zoom. Jevon said: "We had to really slow it down to be extremely clear, and give various angles of the lines so that the animators can see where the hand shapes and hand movements should be".[16] Her guest appearance, in "Gloria's Got 'Em All", was released on streaming services Hulu and Peacock on January 13, 2022. Mansfield is credited alongside the voice actors for her signed performance in the episode, a first for deaf actors.[18][19]

Public image and beliefs[]

During her YouTube career, Mansfield aimed to encourage children and families across the world to learn ASL. Through her performances as an actress, she works to demonstrate authenticity to the deaf community and raise awareness about ASL.[19] In April 2020—during the COVID-19 pandemic—Mansfield, through a video posted on Twitter, criticized Instagram for a lack of captioning. She explained that she and over 400 million others who are deaf or hard-of-hearing are unable to understand videos with sound.[5][20] Her video was liked and retweeted thousands of times.[5] She asked Instagram's chief executive officer, Adam Mosseri, to add automatic captioning to the network.[20] In May 2021, Instagram released a sticker that automatically transcribes speech in Stories.[21]

Filmography[]

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Born This Way Presents: Deaf Out Loud Herself Documentary film
2019 This Close Margaret Episode: "Frog of Truth"
2019 Noelle Michelle Streaming film
2020 Bunk'd Willow Episode: "My Fairy Lady"
2020 Feel the Beat Zuzu Streaming film
2021 13 Minutes Peyton
2022 Madagascar: A Little Wild Shaylee ("sign over") Episode: "Gloria's Got 'Em All"; streaming series

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Charleston, Libby-Jane (December 21, 2016). "Adorable Seven Year Old Uses Sign Language to Read The Polar Express". HuffPost. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  2. ^ Mansfield, Shaylee [@shayleemansfield] (April 6, 2021). "Happy 12th Birthday to Me! I'm Lucky to Be Here Today, to Be Me, and to Wish for Many More Birthdays to Come. And Happiest Birthday to All of My Aries. #birthdayvibes #tweengirls #signlanguage #aries♈ #atlantastreetart". Retrieved November 22, 2021 – via Instagram.
  3. ^ a b "About". ShayleeMansfield.com. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Wallis, Jay (September 12, 2018). "Two Deaf Austin Families Tell Their Unique Story on Cable TV Special". KVUE. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Busu, Tanya (May 28, 2020). "The Pandemic Made Life Harder for Deaf People. The Solutions Could Benefit Everyone". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  6. ^ Beeston, Ariane (April 5, 2016). "Watch: Little Girl's Heartwarming Encounter with Tinkerbell at Disney World". Stuff. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  7. ^ Mullins, Jenna (December 12, 2014). "Adorable Little Girl Signs How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Makes Everyone's Heart Grow 3 Sizes". E!. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  8. ^ Cullers, Rebecca (April 12, 2016). "Minnie Mouse Learns Sign Language, and Disney Parks Suddenly Has Another Viral Hit". Adweek. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Lyons, Margaret (September 10, 2018). "Three Things to Watch This Week". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  10. ^ "Born This Way on A&E". The Futon Critic. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Appelbaum, Lauren (December 10, 2020). "Why Holiday Movies Should Be Inclusive of People with Disabilities (Guest Column)". Variety. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  12. ^ "Noelle". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  13. ^ Galuppo, Mia (July 26, 2019). "Descendants Star Sofia Carson to Lead Netflix Dance Movie Feel the Beat". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  14. ^ "Feel the Beat". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  15. ^ Scheck, Frank (October 26, 2021). "13 Minutes: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  16. ^ a b c d White, Abbey (January 25, 2022). "How Madagascar: A Little Wild Breaks New Industry Ground for Deaf Representation". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  17. ^ Mansfield, Shaylee (January 18, 2022). "Deaf Actress Shaylee Mansfield on Breaking Barriers, Starring in DreamWorks Madagascar: A Little Wild" (Interview). Interviewed by Pablo Chacon; Tammy Chan; Glen Walker; Courtney Friel. KTLA. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c Knolle, Sharon (January 12, 2022). "Deaf Actress Makes History in Madagascar: A Little Wild Season 6". TheWrap. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Sarto, Debbie Diamond (January 28, 2022). "DreamWorks Madagascar: A Little Wild: A Milestone for Deaf Representation". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Katz, Sarah (June 19, 2020). "Twitter Just Rolled Out a Feature That's Inaccessible to Disabled Users". Slate. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  21. ^ Wong, Queenie (May 26, 2021). "Where Clubhouse Truly Falls Short". CNET. Retrieved January 26, 2022.

External links[]

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