Troy Kotsur first made people cry when they watched CODA at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. This week he made us cry when he was the first deaf actor to receive an Oscar. When the film was first released, it was seen as the underdog in almost all categories. Its release date placed it in a spot where an Oscar campaign would likely be challenging, and until this week, a movie first released on a streaming service had yet to win an Academy Award. That said, the moment that final scene in CODA was displayed across the screen and Troy Kotsur sat there learning his daughter’s song in sign language, we all could’ve predicted where this would end.
At first, Kotsur’s win was hopeful among film lovers, knowing he deserved it but perhaps wouldn’t receive that recognition from the Academy, the same way that so many deserving performances have been snubbed before. When award season began though, Kotsur’s campaign took off, as he swept nearly every award that he was nominated for.
The award season kicked off with the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Troy Kotsur wasn’t up against the same people he would later be next to, but still left with a win. His initial win reminded many of his emotive and moving performance, but given that he hadn’t yet been placed against the likely Oscar contenders, many weren’t fully confident in predicting an Oscar win just yet. That is, until the BAFTAs.
The category for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at this year’s BAFTAs was stacked, including performances by Kodi Smit-McPhee, who many suspected could also take the award, Jesse Plemons, Woody Norman, Ciaran Hinds, and Mike Faist. Kotsur won the award and continued to sweep the awards season from then on. Shortly after, Kostur won at the Critic’s Choice Movie Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
At the 94th Academy Awards, Troy Kotsur wrapped up the season with his biggest win yet–Best Supporting Actor. He made history as the first deaf actor to ever win an Oscar, standing beside his CODA co-star, Marlee Matlin, who was the first deaf actress to win back in 1987. The crowd erupted with applause in sign language as he graced the stage with the same big smile we’ve seen all over our televisions this year.
“My dad, he was the best signer in our family, but he was in a car accident and he became paralyzed from the neck down and he no longer was able to sign. Dad, I learned so much from you. I’ll always love you. You are my hero,” Kotsur said during his acceptance speech.
He didn’t just bring out the tears in the crowd, but the laughter as well, saying “I was planning on teaching them some dirty sign language but Marlee Matlin told me to behave myself. So don’t worry, Marlee, I won’t drop any ‘F’ bombs in my speech today.”
The biggest takeaway from Kotsur’s win though, is the importance of not only deaf representation, but representation of the fact that deaf people should be portrayed doing the same everyday things as everyone else. CODA displayed this so beautifully just as films in the future hopefully will.