NOW YOU HEAR ME!

It’s been a long time in the making, but deaf actor Troy Kotsur is finally getting the recognition he deserves

- LESEGO MKHIZE

HE STARTED his career in stage acting but it would take years before Hollywood would come knocking on his door.

And if it been for Oscar-winning Marlee Matlin, it’s highly likely no one would have known just how talented Troy Kotsur is.

The 53-year-old is now on an award-winning streak, becoming the first deaf actor to bag a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award, a Bafta and a Critics Choice award for his moving performance in Coda. Now he’s being tipped to win the best actor Oscar.

In the film, Troy plays a fisherman and father who’s struggling to relate to his teenage daughter, Ruby (played by Emilia Jones). Ruby is the only hearing person in her family and longs to become a singer, but she’s torn between pursuing her dreams and staying at home so she can interpret for her family.

Coda stands for Children of Deaf Adults and refers to kids who grow up in a family where American Sign Language (ALS) is their primary form of communication.

Marlee, who made history in 1987 as the first deaf person to win a best actress Oscar, was the first star to be cast in the film. But when she heard the film’s financiers wanted well-known hearing actors to play the other deaf roles, she threatened to walk away.

She fought for Troy to be cast as her husband, Frank, and now he’s well and truly on the Tinseltown map.

“I call it a really, really hellish long tough journey, but now here I am,” he says.

Part of what attracted him to the film was that it featured multiple deaf characters and gave the deaf community a voice.

“I’m tired of deaf people being portrayed as a victim,” he says. “I wanted to show this character is a tough guy, a deaf male who struggles just like anyone else out there.