CODA made history with its win for the 2022 SAG Awards’ top prize of best cast.
The Apple film is the first movie with a predominantly deaf cast to win the SAG Awards’ top prize.
The winning ensemble beat out the stars of fellow nominees Belfast, Don’t Look Up, King Richard and House of Gucci.
Accepting for CODA, Marlee Matlin, one of the deaf actors in the film about the children of deaf adults, signed her acceptance speech, which was spoken by her interpreter, after quipping that she didn’t need the microphone onstage.
Matlin seemed visibly “stunned,” as she said via her interpreter, with the actress and the rest of the film’s cast looking shocked when it was announced they had won the top prize.
She thanked Apple for acquiring their film for $25 million out of Sundance (She joked, “Only $25 million?”), writer-director Sian Heder and the real children of deaf adults, including her kids.
In closing, she expressed what the victory means for the industry.
“We, deaf actors, have come a long way,” Matlin said in part, through her interpreter. “This validates the fact that we, deaf actors, can work like anybody else.”
She ended her speech by teaching the crowd of assembled actors the sign for “I love you.”
Backstage, Matlin opened up about what the win means for deaf actors.
“It’s a night that I’ve been waiting for for 35 years,” she said. “It has been time, and this just validates among those people who voted for us at SAG — they knew that we are their peers, their equals. We are all actors. This has to really give more opportunities for other actors out there who are, whatever they may be, as long as they’re talented. Thank you everyone for your support. I love my family here.”
Fellow actor Daniel Durant thanked Matlin and Heder “for fighting for getting authentic deaf actors to play real deaf characters and give them our real experiences.”
“I hope this changes opportunities for deaf people, so they have more opportunities and things are better,” he added.
The best cast prize is considered SAG-AFTRA’s best picture equivalent. But, in recent years, a number of titles have won the best picture Oscar without nabbing best cast nominations, including last year’s best picture winner Nomadland and 2018 and 2019 Oscar best picture winners The Shape of Water and Green Book, respectively. The 2020 best cast winner Parasite is the latest title to take the SAG Awards’ top prize before winning the Oscars’ best picture.
Earlier in the night, CODA actor Troy Kotsur made history by becoming the first deaf actor to win an individual SAG Award with his best supporting actor win.
CODA is up for best picture at the 2022 Oscars and scored nods for best adapted screenplay and supporting actor for Kotsur.
The award is also historic for Apple, as it’s the first film from the tech giant, which a few years ago entered the film and TV production and distribution space, to win a SAG Award.
Source: HollyWood
