Troy Kotsur has discussed the impact of CODA on deaf culture at the BAFTAs 2022.
Kotsur, who made history by becoming the first deaf actor to win Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTAs for his role as Frank Rossi, spoke to NME on the red carpet about how the Apple TV film has opened up the world to the deaf perspective.
“I feel like CODA has had a tremendous impact on the world and hearing people are beginning to see a new perspective, to really have an authentic birds-eye-view into deaf culture, ASL and what a child of a deaf adult means and that experience,” Kotsur said.
“And really remind people all over to cherish their families because a lot of people have passed away and lost their lives during the pandemic – that’s been a tremendous impact – and so our film can now remind people you can have a feel good message, you can feel inspired. That’s what’s truly important about the message of our film.”
Asked about his favourite moment from the reaction to CODA, Kotsur added: “I sat in the audience watching our film right where we have 30 seconds of silence and the hearing audience is not used to it, and that’s exactly what my life has been like, a life of silence.
“So for just 30 seconds of silence it was so wonderful for me to finally let the hearing world in as a fly-on-the-wall to the deaf experience. Just to let you know I always sleep well at night because there’s no background noise for me.”
Directed by Sian Heder, CODA is a comedy drama film which follows Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones), who is the only hearing member of a deaf family.
Along with Best Supporting Actor, the film also won Best Adapted Screenplay at the BAFTAs 2022. The big winners were Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog, which picked up Best Film and Best Director, while Dune scored five awards.
You can check out the full list of winners here.
