“Marlee is the most famous, and often only deaf actor that people know,” says Heder. With Matlin's insistence that deaf actors play deaf roles, "CODA” features a number of breakout performances. Marlee Matlin, the first and only deaf actress to win an Oscar (for the 1986 drama “Children of a Lesser God”), was perfect for the part of mother Jackie.īut “CODA” is a complete group effort, earning the best ensemble award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival (the same festival at which AppleTV+ bought the distribution rights for a record-shattering $25 million). It was sad for me to see that.When writer-director Siân Heder was casting the tear-jerking, joyful drama "CODA," centered on a child of deaf adults (CODA), the first stop was obvious. But the bottom line is, we know who won, and we are still enjoying our win,” Matlin said, adding: “If you’re talking about what actually happened, I, as a victim of domestic violence once in my past, do not condone violence whatsoever. “Viral moments are obviously the ones that get the most attention. There was a final question that had to be asked of Matlin, apologetically, because there were so many more important issues to address, and to celebrate.ĭid the “CODA” team feel overshadowed in its win by the Will Smith slap that reverberated across the internet? “I trust that people will listen - they have in the past - and make things better.” I might have been disappointed to some degree, but unfortunately I’m used to that,” she said. “I’ve never been a person who’s been angry. Matlin felt confident that she and others can continue to effect change. She applauded the tablets that the academy made available to deaf guests, but she would like to see an interpreter onstage throughout the night, translating for the television audience. This year, however, she estimated that nearly 20 Deaf people were present, and that the academy was very aware of their needs. Matlin said she has attended the Oscars about eight times, and she generally has an interpreter in the seat beside her because she’s usually the only Deaf person in the room. “I’m talking about Deaf people standing onstage, or presenting or introducing, or even hosting.” “I’m not talking about a hearing person with an interpreter,” she said. Matlin would like to see more Deaf people represented at the awards in future years, and she is looking forward to sitting down with the academy to discuss it - soon, when there is still plenty of time to plan. (“Audible,” about a football team at Maryland School for the Deaf, was up for short subject documentary “Drive My Car,” which won international feature, features Park Yurim as an actress who uses Korean Sign Language.) She noted that in a year when so many films featuring Deaf actors and Deaf culture were being honored, the academy missed an opportunity to have a Deaf presenter or performer onstage during the ceremony.
Speaking of network TV, Matlin said her Oscars experience - the accessibility, the interpretation - was very good overall, but she said the film academy still has work to do. She said she has always developed her own projects, and she has about six in the works, including one television project for which she will serve as the director - which is in and of itself a groundbreaking role for a Deaf artist in network TV. Matlin is eager to keep moving in the right direction. We have to put the welcome mat out there and work.” But, she cautioned, “It doesn’t mean you’re going to blow open the doors.
They understand that it can be woven seamlessly into story lines. The success of “CODA” means that for the time being, people are much more aware of Deaf culture and sign language, she said. “The recognition that Troy got last night is long overdue - that people recognize his work, our work.”
“I’m so relieved right now, I can’t even tell you - my feeling that a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Matlin said. In the shining moment when her “CODA” co-star Troy Kotsur stepped onstage to accept the statue for supporting actor, Matlin at long last had company. Though she kindly declined a FaceTime interview, she was thrilled to talk sans cameras about the visibility the Deaf community has gained through the success of “CODA.” Matlin, after all, knows a thing or two about what visibility can mean.Īfter 35 years, she is no longer the sole Deaf performer to have won an Oscar. She’d been applying it for almost a year straight promoting “CODA,” the film that made history when it won the Oscar for best picture. When she woke, she said via an interpreter for a phone interview Monday, she didn’t feel like putting on makeup. Marlee Matlin slept in the morning after the 94th Academy Awards.
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