‘CODA’s Troy Kotsur Talks Historic Oscar Nom & Its Meaning To Deaf Community, Upcoming Film ‘Flash Before The Bang’ & Directing Ambitions

deadline.com:

CODA star Troy Kotsur this morning became the first deaf male actor ever to earn an Oscar nomination, speaking with Deadline about what the watershed moment centered on the Apple film means for the deaf community, as well as his upcoming film Flash Before the Bang and more.Kotsur said that he was “extremely thrilled” by his nomination, along with CODA’s noms for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay, given the role the Oscars play in bringing recognition to deserving work and the artists behind it. “I feel like it’s wonderful to be able to share this experience with the deaf community and with the hearing community,” the actor said via an ASL interpreter. “It’s so exciting and such a blessing.”CODA is a comedic drama based on the French film La Famille Bélier, which tells the story of Ruby (Emilia Jones), a CODA (or “child of deaf adult”) who serves as an interpreter for the members of her Boston family, including her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin), her father Frank (Kotsur) and her brother Leo (Daniel Durant).

At a pivotal moment in her life, the character finds herself torn between the role she plays, in connecting her loved ones to the outside world—above all, with regard to their fishing business—and her pursuit of an education in music.From the perspective of Kotsur, the importance of CODA’s recognition by the Film Academy and other awards bodies can’t be overestimated. “I just felt so touched that so many deaf people all over the community are so excited and they’re all celebrating.

It’s so important for the group of people in our ensemble who just happen to also be deaf,” he said. “It tends to just be one deaf role in a film, like many of Marlee’s roles in the past, and so I hope that Hollywood is beginning to be