Troy Kotsur Signs With Verve

Now that Troy Kotsur has won an Oscar, he's committed to working with Verve.

 The actor recently made history by becoming the first deaf man and the second deaf actor to win an Academy Award. In Sian Heder's CODA, a warm-hearted drama about the lone hearing member of a deaf family, he was acclaimed for his supporting role. CODA won the award for the best picture at the festival.

When he finished his degree at Gallaudet University in Washington, Kotsur moved to Los Angeles to work with the Deaf West Theatre, where he appeared in such plays as Of Mice and Men, Cyrano, and A Streetcar Named Desire. No Ordinary Hero,' his debut feature film, depicted the struggle of an autistic actor playing a superhero on television who must learn to believe in himself. He was nominated for a 2015 LA Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in Spring Awakening at the Deaf West Theatre, and he appeared on Broadway in Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Aside from roles on CSI: NY,Scrubs, and Criminal Minds, Kotsur was the first deaf actor to star in a Star Wars production,  the 2019 Disney+ series The Mandalorian./ For this,  he devised a type of sign language to play a Tusken raider. During an interview with Variety, Kotsur discussed his goals.

According to Kotsur, "We've had so much history in the deaf community. Nothing is known about the tragedies and triumphs that have occurred in our community. Their plight has languished mostly unaddressed. The stories in this treasure trove need to be unearthed and shared.”