“But our film explains so much and my daughter feels seen and validated.” “She’s been through a lot and sometimes it’s hard for her to connect with her hearing friends who don’t really understand what it is like to be raised by deaf parents,” he said. Kotsur said during filming that the British actress reminded him of his own daughter, who is a coda and a similar age. How would a deaf character work in these particular situations? And they’re really showing me that a lot of these producers are beginning to open their minds.”Īs well as Kotsur’s nomination for best supporting actor, Coda is also nominated in two other Bafta categories: adapted screenplay for Heder and leading actress for Emilia Jones, who plays Kotsur’s daughter and will sing at Sunday’s ceremony in London at the Royal Albert Hall. ![]() “So we’ve been setting up meetings on how can this character communicate. He is currently reading several scripts and he is talking to producers about adapting hearing characters into deaf roles. In the future he would like to develop a story about deaf historical figures. “I see Hollywood beginning to be motivated to look for something new, something inspiring and avoid the same old tropes that’s not just ‘Oh, have pity for a deaf character’, but have them as the hero,” he said. Actor Javier Bardem told him that he “cried like a baby” watching the film, he said, and stars have spoken to him in sign language. There has, he said, been a cultural shift and in Hollywood, producers and celebrities are now getting in touch with him “rather than me approaching them begging for work”. “We’re so used to seeing all of your hearing movies with your swearing and subtitles, but where was our chance to show that part our language and culture?” So it was a thrill for me to show that part of deaf culture on the big screen,” he said. “Frank Rossi was able to drop plenty of f-bombs in ASL. Part of what attracted to him to the film was that it featured multiple deaf characters as opposed to one, which is often the case, and his character’s colourful use of language. ![]() The film has had an incredible impact on deaf, hard-of-hearing and disabled people, he said: “Now they’re able to really see their identity, their experience being shown on screen.” ![]() Now he hopes that together he and Matlin can “help Hollywood to have some empathy” by changing the way deaf people are seen and portrayed on screen. ![]() “I call it a really, really hellish long tough journey, and it was, but now here I am,” said Kotsur, from Arizona. Part of what kept him going was the success of Matlin, who he describes as his hero. “My question was: how soon will Hollywood accept me and how can I keep my hope alive?” he said. At times he worked multiple jobs and sometimes slept in his car or in theatres. It was reportedly bought by Apple at Sundance for a record $25m.įor Kotsur, after more than 20 years in the industry performing in films, on television and on Broadway, this moment has been a long time in the making. Troy Kotsur: ‘It was a thrill to drop f-bombs in US sign language, to show that part of deaf culture on the big screen.’ Photograph: Chelsea Lauren/HCA/REX/Shutterstockīut, unlike that 2014 movie, which was criticised for using hearing actors to play deaf people, Coda casts deaf actors in deaf roles.
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