Troy Kotsur takes home the win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in CODA. He beat out Oscar hopefuls Ciarán Hinds (Belfast), Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog), J.K Simmons (Being the Ricardos) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog). The award was presented by Youn Yuh-jung, who won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Oscars last year for her performance in Minari.
CODA stands for Child of Deaf Adults, and that child is the protagonist of the film. Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the only one in her family who isn’t deaf, and because of that, she becomes her family’s means of communication with the rest of the community. At the same time, she is othered in school by association, due to her family’s difference. All her life, Ruby believed her path was laid out for her: her family is her life and work on the fishing boat was all she could envision for her future. But choir changes everything.
Kotsur played Ruby’s father, Frank Rossi, and captured the hearts of audiences everywhere. He is the first deaf actor to win an Oscar, while his fellow cast member Marlee Matlin previously won an Oscar for her performance in Children of a Lesser God. It’s been an amazing awards season for Kotsur, who has snatched up wins in the same category at the SAG awards, BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice and Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Kotsur drew from his own real life experiences to play the part, since his own daughter is a CODA. On Vanity Fair’s “Little Gold Men” podcast, he mentioned how he would put his hand on the piano to feel the vibration of the piano, so that he could make “that connection with [his] daughter”. He also spoke about how the film helps audiences to understand the experiences of deaf people.
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