Actress Lauren Ridloff is more than happy to watch “CODA” smash that glass ceiling!
The 43-year-old actress has risen to fame as the lighting-fast Deaf superhero Makkari in Marvel’s 2021 “Eternals” film, which marks the first Deaf superhero to appear on screen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She also rose to fame as Connie on AMC’s popular “The Walking Dead” series.
Ridloff knows how hard it can be for a Deaf actress to find work in the industry, which is why she was more than happy to see “CODA” representing the Deaf community and scoring two major wins for the night.
Lauren Ridloff Cheers As ‘CODA’ Picks Up Two Big Screen Actors Guild Awards
The first big win of the night came when Deaf actor Troy Kotsur became the first Deaf actor to win an individual SAG Award. In January, he had made history just by being the first Deaf actor to be nominated for an individual Screen Actors Guild Award.
Kotsur picked up the win against stiff competition from Ben Affleck (“The Tender Bar”), Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”), Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”), and Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”).
I’ve got butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps all over. So incredibly happy for Troy!!! Congratulations!!!! https://t.co/4ITBjqnalQ
— Lauren Ridloff (@LaurenRidloff) February 28, 2022
Ridloff retweeted his acceptance speech, which was rendered into English through an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter.
“I’ve got butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps all over,” she wrote. “So incredibly happy for Troy!!! Congratulations!!!!”
That wasn’t the only big win of the night. “CODA” picked up a win in the headlining category of the night: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽 https://t.co/pCF51877Dx
— Lauren Ridloff (@LaurenRidloff) February 28, 2022
Ridloff retweeted the acceptance speech given by Marlee Matlin, who starred in the film. Matlin has also made history as the first Deaf actress to win an Academy Award for her performance in “Children of a Lesser God” – exactly 35 years ago.
“You are all our peers. We Deaf actors have come a long way,” Matlin signed through her interpreter. “Thirty-five years… I have been seeing so much work out there all this time. I’ve watched all of your films, and I pay the deepest respect to all of you.”
“This validates the fact that we Deaf actors work just like everyone else,” she continued. “We look forward to more opportunities for Deaf actors and Deaf culture.”
Ridloff joined the many who signed the “I Love You” handshape, as Matlin requested at the end of her speech.
Many are hoping that this is only the beginning of wins for “CODA.” Troy Kotsur became the second Deaf actor and the first Deaf male actor to be nominated for an Oscar for his role. Many are hoping that he will be able to repeat the success of Matlin 35 years later. The big win for “CODA” last night also means that the Deaf ensemble film might be able to score a Big Picture win in the Oscar race, which would be groundbreaking for the Deaf community and will, hopefully, inspire a push of more Deaf stories in the entertainment industry.
The full list of 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award winners can be found here.
Lauren Ridloff Has Picked Up A Few Wins Of Her Own!
Ridloff received the IMDb Fan Favorite STARMeter Award in mid-February. To be eligible for the award, IMDB says that a celebrity must be listed in the IMDbPro STARmeter rankings chart, which records the page views of celebrities that have more than two-hundred-million monthly visitors on IMDb.
IMDb Chief Operating Officer, Nikki Santoro, congratulated Ridloff on her award, saying that she was thrilled to “celebrate her incredible achievements” on screen.
“Lauren’s phenomenal performances in everything from ‘Sound of Metal’ to ‘Eternals’ to ‘The Walking Dead’ have leaped off screens and driven fans and professionals around the world to IMDb and IMDbPro to learn more about her work,” Santoro said. “We congratulate Lauren as our newest recipient of an IMDb STARmeter Award and we are thrilled to celebrate her incredible achievements and watch her career continue to grow.”
“Thank you so much to my fans for your support and love,” Ridloff said in her acceptance speech. Ridloff filmed her acceptance speech from Georgia, where she was currently shooting the final season of “The Walking Dead.”
“I received this award because you went to IMDb and IMDbPro to learn more about me and the incredible projects that I’ve been fortunate to be a part of,” she added. “Thank you for the honor.”
This is far from the only award that Ridloff has won. She also received the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award at the 2020 Media Access Awards. She has also received a Tony Award nomination in 2018 for her breakout performance in Children of a Lesser God.
