Emilio Insolera

Emilio Insolera (born 29 January 1979) is a deaf actor and producer, known for Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes (2017). In 2022, Insolera had a role in Simon Kinberg's The 355. Early life and education Emilio Insolera was born on 29 January 1979 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Italian Deaf family, the youngest son of automotive toolmaker Alfio Insolera and bank employee Maria Cristina Drovetta Insolera. Following the rampant hyperinflation in 1989, Insolera's family moved back to Italy, first to Sicily later to various cities frequently, eventually setting in Rome. Upon completing high school, Insolera moved to New York City. Insolera developed an interest in acting and filmmaking since kid: there was no access to closed captions on TV, he recalls "our imagination filled the void of the dialogues that took place" so his parents would regularly bring him to movie theaters or rent VHS movies since these were in original language and therefore subtitled. As a Fulbright and Roberto Wirth scholar, he received his bachelor's degree in Film and Sign Language Linguistics from Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C., the only liberal arts college for the deaf in the world, and his master's degree in Mass Communication with summa cum laude, from University of Rome La Sapienza. Insolera speaks and reads lips fluently even though sign language is his native language. He has an older brother, Humberto, himself deaf too.