In his Oscar-nominated performance in “CODA,” Troy Kotsur has one spoken line, but it’s a good one. Urging his daughter, played by Emilia Jones, to pursue her dreams of singing and attending college, he says aloud: “Go!”
For Kotsur, that one line meant lots of rehearsal plus the courage to, on a film set, speak dialogue he couldn’t himself hear. But Kotsur had also done it before. Years before, as Stanley Kowalski in a Deaf West Theatre production of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” he exclaimed “Stella!” night after night.
“Sometimes I’ll ask hearing audience members what my voice sounds like,” signs Kotsur. “One person described it as feeling like being cozy and tucked in bed.”
Kotsur, who does indeed radiate a rumpled warmth, is just the second actor who is deaf to be nominated for an Academy Award. And like that “Go!” the 53-year-old Kotsur hopes his achievement resonates with inspiration.
