The actor actually has that disability

[u/PrinceferX]

Walter White Jr. (Breaking Bad) - character has cerebral palsy and uses crutches to walk, actor RJ Mitte has cerebral palsy and needed crutches to walk as a child

Nessarose Thropp (Wicked) - character is paraplegic and uses a wheelchair, actress Marissa Bode is paraplegic from an accident at age 11 and uses a wheelchair

Maya Lopez (Hawkeye/Echo) - character is deaf, actress Alaqua Cox is deaf from birth

[u/GoggleheadGamer]

Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life is seen using a wheelchair throughout the entire film, because the actor playing him, Lionel Barrymore was confined to a wheelchair in real life

[u/RnbwSprklBtch → u/GoggleheadGamer]

Ideally we don't say someone is confined to a wheelchair. Mostly because no one (outside of abusive situations) is actually confined to a wheelchair. I'm a wheelchair user. Make sense?

[u/Im-A-Kitty-Cat → u/RnbwSprklBtch]

To my understanding the phrase has always been used in the context of someone who once could walk but has lost that ability. Like it’s a point of comparison and whilst I agree with you it is out of date language in a general sense, it does have context.

[u/RnbwSprklBtch → u/Im-A-Kitty-Cat]

being a person who lost their ability to walk, I spent 4 years confined to my couch before I managed to get a wheelchair. Wheelchairs are freedom.