Last Sunday’s 94th Academy Awards ceremony was nothing short of eventful, but a shining moment beyond the noise was the historic Oscar win for Troy Kotsur for his Actor in a Supporting Role performance in CODA, the celebrated film that also took home the Best Picture award. Kotsur became the first Deaf male actor to win an Academy Award, setting the stage for more opportunities for the Deaf and disabled communities in Hollywood moving forward.

While speaking on Zoom with Kotsur with the assistance of his interpreter Justin Maurer, I asked the Oscar winner what was the first thing he thought about when he learned that he had won.

“My wife Deanne,” Kotsur tells me. “She was the first thing that came to mind because she has supported me all the way. She never lost faith in me. This is almost 30 years that we’ve known each other and she knew all the struggles and everything I went through and I was doing what I loved, which was acting. That’s why I kissed her immediately before I went up to accept the award. Deanne was the first thing on my mind.”

CODA, which stands for “Child of Deaf Adults,” began its victory lap back in early 2021 when the film won a record-breaking four awards at the Sundance Film Festival. After a competitive bidding war, Apple Studios picked up the feature film for $25 million. CODA is now streaming on Apple TV+, seeing a 300% increase in viewership on the platform since the film’s three major wins at the Oscars on Sunday.

Kotsur plays the father character Frank Rossi in CODA and the fictional husband to longtime Hollywood actress Marlee Matlin. Matlin made history herself in 1987 when she won the Best Actress Oscar for her outstanding performance in Children of a Lesser God, becoming the first-ever Deaf actor overall to take home the golden statue. Now these 35 years later, I asked Kotsur if his CODA co-star and friend Matlin gave him any advice going into Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, knowing how that moment felt.

Kotsur says, “I feel like she knew that I was ready and she knew what I had been doing. Ever since The Gotham Awards last year in New York – that was the first award show I was at with Marlee and so that felt a bit awkward. And then, with these other nominations and these other award shows and these red carpets and events, I felt prepared. So Oscar night, she was watching me and I think she was really enjoying watching me and seeing what I’m going through because she remembers her time and she can look back fondly on that. It’s amazing – I can’t even believe I had the opportunity to work with her and now we have both a male and a female Deaf actors that both have received Oscars, so that is an even bigger impact on the Deaf community, the CODA community, the disabled community, and so on. So, I’m so grateful.”

When many discuss the excitement of the Oscars red carpet, the after-parties, and the atmosphere of the ceremony itself, Kotsur recalls his favorite moment surrounding the Oscars was getting to interact with his fellow-nominated Hollywood peers before the big night.

“One of the best memories is chatting with Javier Bardem, chatting with Benedict Cumberbatch, chatting with Andrew Garfield,” Kotsur reveals. “We had a pre-Oscar party with my interpreter and we were at the same table and it felt like finally we’re peers. We have a mutual understanding as actors, as performers, and the choices we made. We had just a great chat. I think they were curious about hearing a Deaf actor’s perspective and how my process works and how I develop my characters. It was one of the best moments.”

So beyond the great conversations Kotsur had and his empowering acceptance speech, I wondered what he hopes his Oscar win will signify for the future of Hollywood?

“Well, I’m glad that Hollywood is finally waking up and challenging themselves, looking at new perspectives and how to make improvements with accessibility. Ever since, I saw some improvements – you had Quiet Place 1 & 2, Eternals, Sound of Metal, and all these examples. So you see one Deaf role but then all of a sudden, there’s a deep dive into Deaf culture that unveils Deaf culture with CODA and so, I see these steps forward.”

Kotsur goes on to tell me that he has recently received several project pitches and scripts from producers, asking him to consider the projects, even though they are written for hearing characters. He says the producers are now considering adapting the original scripts to be written as Deaf characters, instead.

“I’m seeing Hollywood begin to open their hearts and minds and be open-minded on how to work with Deaf actors. It feels like they’re not only thinking outside of the box but they’re collapsing this box and now finally, we can tell more diverse stories from all of these marginalized communities that have been ignored for so long. So, I’d like to push Hollywood to be even more creative.”

With the Oscars always the culmination of an extravagant and globe-trotting awards season for many cast and crew of celebrated films, Kotsur cannot praise his CODA co-stars and filmmaker enough.

“I felt like every trip we made, it was like a family reunion and we were able to celebrate together like a family again. We were so comfortable with each other and it’s hard for us to start to kind of spread out and go back to our own corners and it’s like Is this it? Is this really over? We’re trying to like maybe convince [CODA Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar-winning writer and director] Siân Heder to do CODA 2 or a TV series – that way, we can get together as a cast again.”

Another constant that has remained by Kotsur’s side throughout this entire awards season experience has been his interpreter Maurer. Being a CODA himself, Maurer has been a part of Kotsur’s celebration every step of the way, acting as the familiar voice for hearing audiences as he interpretes Kotsur’s American Sign Language (ASL) during the many conversations and award acceptance speeches all across the world. So, I asked Kotsur how did he know that Maurer was the right interpreter for him.

“That’s a good question. So, my journey has been really interesting. I’ve worked with several interpreters over the years to try and find a good fit. You have to have a good chemistry, a great balance. It’s important to develop a relationship and have a mutual understanding and someone who knows my style – I know the interpreter’s style. The interpreter knows my sense of humor, my irony, and the interpreter can begin to understand my humor, my language, and have the right choice in words during these interpretations. And we can enjoy going out to a restaurant or playing golf or just being friends while we’re working.”

As Kotsur looks ahead at the widening opportunities for him as an actor now, he says that there are a lot of Deaf historical figures that he’d like to play on-screen next, bringing up the example of real-life baseball player Dummy Hoy and how his presence in baseball during the late 19th century changed the way we all see umpires signal for balls and strikes in the sport today.

On Sunday evening, Kotsur dedicated his Oscar on-stage to the CODA community, the Deaf community, and the disabled community. He even shared that his father was the best at sign language in his family, but when his father was in a car accident, he became paralyzed from the neck down and could no longer sign.

“The reason why I made that dedication is because when I was growing up, I’m 53 years old and I had two disabled family members. My father was in a wheelchair and my brother drowned in a pool and had to survive off of machines. And so, my only barrier was communication but I’m very sensitive to all of these experiences and everything that I’ve witnessed throughout my life. So I’m thinking like How the hell do these folks not understand what we need? And we need to make a connection with those people, so when I received that award, you know, this world is always watching the Oscars, right? Everyone in the world and so now I had an opportunity to have a positive message to a global audience to increase awareness that these communities exist and they need to be seen and that’s why I mentioned that this is our moment.”

As I wrapped up my conversation with Kotsur while Maurer interpreted, the gracious Oscar winner shared with me one final hope that he would love to see us all do in our world one day soon.

“I really hope that more people take sign language classes for so many different reasons because it would be great if policemen, firemen, doctors, lawyers – we’re all able to communicate with people that happen to be Deaf, without an interpreter. So, can you imagine a world like that?”