Troy Kotsur becomes the first deaf actor to win an Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actor’

Apple Original Films made history on Oscars night and became the first streaming platform to take home an award for Best Picture. CODA also won trophies for Troy Kotsur as Best Supporting Actor and director Sian Heder for Best Adapted Screenplay.

With its best-picture victory, CODA became the first film since 1932’s Grand Hotel to win top honors with fewer than four total Oscar nominations. 

Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli presented the award to the film, which follows a teenage Ruby – who can hear – as she juggles pursuing her musical ambitions with her family’s dependence on her to communicate.

“CODA does have a double meaning in the title because it’s Children of Deaf Adults, but it’s also the end of a piece of music,” Heder told NPR’s Here and Now. “It’s a story about the end of childhood.”

With his Oscar nomination and win, Kotsur joined his costar Marlee Matlin as the only two deaf actors to win in any category and made history as the first deaf actor to win Best Supporting Character.

“We’ve had such a rich history in the Deaf community. We’ve had tragedy, we’ve had success, but no one knows about these stories,” Kotsur told a Variety interviewer. “They’ve been ignored for so long. I want to bring forth this treasure trove of storytelling.

CODA will return to theaters with open captions to be accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. The limited theatrical run will fill over 600 U.S. movie theaters.

As with previous theatrical runs, all showings will have open captions, so that the film is accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities,” Erica Anderson, a film distribution exec for Apple Original Films and Apple TV+, said in a statement.

“As with previous theatrical runs, all showings will have open captions, so that the film is accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities,” says Erica Anderson from Apple Original Films’ Distribution team.

For more information about the movie, click here.

CODA Gets Nominated for Academy Awards, making history

Sian Heder’s C.O.D.A. — Child Of Deaf Adults — was released on Aug. 13, 2021. A comedic drama based on the French film La Famille Bélier, it follows the life of Ruby, a 17-year-old high-schooler who also happens to be the only hearing member of her fully deaf family. Always prioritizing them before herself, she wakes up right at the crack of dawn to help her parents and brother keep their fishing business afloat. However, problems arise when Ruby discovers her talent in singing and ends up applying to the Berklee College of Music.

The main cast is composed of Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi, Marlee Matlin as mother Jackie Rossi, Daniel Durant as brother Leo Rossi and Troy Kotsur as father Frank Rossi.

Kotsur, 53, was born deaf and grew up in Mesa, Ariz. He attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., before launching into an acting career on the stage, on TV and in films. His previous credits include a Broadway turn in “Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn.”

With the recent announcement of the 94th annual Oscar nominations, Kotsur is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. With his nomination, he makes history as the first deaf man to be nominated in any category.

“I feel like it’s wonderful to be able to share this experience with the deaf community and with the hearing community,” Kotsur said via ASL interpreter. “It’s so exciting and such a blessing.”

Kotsur also happens to be the husband of former Oak Park High School American Sign Language teacher Deanne Bray.

Most recognized for her role as Sue Thomas in the show, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Bray is also a deaf actress. But to Oak Park, she is known for leading the ASL classes before she left for Arizona in 2021.

Currently, both Bray and her husband are set to star in Flash Before the Bang, an upcoming sports drama directed by Jevon Whetter, on whom the movie is based. The film will feature deaf creatives in front of and behind the camera and will star Nyle DiMarco along with the husband-wife duo.

For more information about the upcoming movie, click here.