Bethany Hamilton competes in a woman's surf competition in Haleiwa, Hawaii, in November 2005, two years after losing an arm to a shark. (Lucy Pemoni/AP)

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You try not to notice it. But for half a second, your eyes can’t help but focus on the stump that protrudes slightly from Bethany Hamilton’s left sleeve, in the space where her arm should be.

But then you’re struck by everything that’s present on this down-to-earth but remarkably poised young woman. Her soft, clear voice. Her giggle. Her polite enthusiasm. And her completely unforced and frequent use of the word “stoked.”

Hamilton was little known outside the competitive surfing community until a tiger shark took her arm off along the coast of Kauai when she was 13 years old.

That moment and that loss do not define Bethany Hamilton. They merely galvanize who she already was. And she doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her, because she certainly doesn’t.

“Ultimately, I hope that my struggles and what I went though can hopefully be encouraging,” says Hamilton, now 21, munching on fruit on a balcony of a luxe South Beach hotel.

She’s here promoting the film Soul Surfer, based on her autobiography and starring Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt and AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany. The movie, which opens Friday, captures not only that fateful shark encounter, but also her return to the ocean and the family and faith that ground her.

Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt and AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany in 'Soul Surfer'.

“I think sometimes we all struggle with being confident in our decisions. But the more I got out there, the more confident I became,” she says, her eyes drifting past you to the ocean.

It’s never far from her mind.

“As soon as we got to Florida, we got in the water,” she says. “There were some pretty fun waves near Cocoa Beach. We booked the flight for Orlando, and then stayed up there and surfed.”

That impulse is second nature to someone who “was in the water before I could walk,” the daughter of two surfers whose devotion to the waves paled only to their devotion to God and their family. She began surfing early, entering her first major competition at 8. At the time of the shark attack, Hamilton had secured a sponsor, the surfing clothing company Rip Curl.

No ‘Jaws’ music

Anyone familiar with the real story behind Soul Surfer will be expecting the scene of the attack to be played out with ominous strings building as the giant beast lurks and finds its prey.

Instead, there’s a brief shot from under Hamilton’s board. The shark darts into frame and bites her. Then it disappears as suddenly and devastatingly as it entered the picture. It’s over before anyone has time to process what’s happening.

And that “was pretty spot-on,” she says.

What she wants you to know is that the shark is not portrayed as a villain because she doesn’t think of it that way.

“I don’t hate sharks,” says Hamilton. “Actually, I love them. I don’t want (the movie) to cause some ‘Jaws’ phobia. They’re so beautiful. And (the ocean) is their home. I didn’t see anything that day. It was really quiet and calm.”

That’s pretty much what she remembers about the actual attack, which happened in an instant while she was out on a morning surf excursion. Both in the movie and in real life, her biggest concern was when she could get back in the water.

“I’ve been so blessed to have healed enough to go surfing without fear,” she says. “It can be scary, the waves. But I had respect for the ocean. It’s so powerful, and people think they can handle everything.”

It’s one thing not to be afraid of the actual sharks, who have no malicious intent besides being hungry. But it’s quite another thing to trust one’s life story and image to the human sharks of Hollywood, who have been known to fudge a detail or two or 12 when it suits them.

“It’s scary,” says Hamilton, but except for a few tweaks, director Sean McNamara “allowed us to be involved every step of the way. We would say ‘We don’t like this part of the script. Do you have something that would sound better?’ “

Real surfing, real faith

Her family appears in cameos, including during a church scene where her real-life parents are sitting behind Quaid and Hunt, who play them (she reports that “they both got hooked on surfing.”)

The Hamiltons were concerned about the portrayal of the actual surfing, “which is not very accurate” in a lot of movies, Bethany says. She not only got inside the editing room to watch the surf scenes, but acted as her own stunt surfing double. (For close-ups, Robb wore a prosthetic that could be digitally made to look like a stump).

Hamilton says she was pleased at the respectful, accurate way that Soul Surfer includes her family’s devout Christianity. It shows them at church, her close relationship with her youth group leader (played by American Idol winner and country star Carrie Underwood) and a pivotal relief trip to Indonesia after the devastating 2004 tsunami.

“I want people to know that’s what got us through,” she says. “I wanted it to be natural, and not showy or in-your-face. I love God and I want to honor him. That’s challenging, because we were scared that it would be too pushy. But we were happy with it.

“I think you can enjoy a movie where you don’t have to believe my beliefs to enjoy it, but maybe something about it will impact your life.”

Hamilton attends the March 30 premiere of 'Soul Surfer' in Hollywood. She came to Florida to promote the movie - and surf.

What’s on the inside

Hamilton says that she’d like part of the message to be about how women and girls can survive inner and outer attacks on their body image. “The inside is more important,” she says.

And she hopes more of them find a sport, like surfing, “that’s very healthy, even away from the competition. (You) find confidence.”

The confidence that allows a tiny girl to spend her waking hours happily submitting herself to the will of the mighty ocean is the same confidence, it seems, that allows her to submit her life as a learning tool.

“There’s a song in the movie, in the church, called Blessed Be the Name of the Lord. I heard that song every time we went to church for a while, I mean, two to five different churches,” she says. “There’s that line that goes ‘You give and take away.’

“That’s about knowing God’s love. Sometimes He takes away things, but it’s necessary.”

Bethany Hamilton’s arm was taken away. But what was left seems much more important.