Marvel's First Deaf Superhero Is In "Eternals," And Here's What It Felt Like For The Actor Who Played Her
BuzzFeed
2 min read
With Eternals, Lauren Ridloff has just created history by becoming the first deaf actor ever to portray a superhero in a Marvel feature film.
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The Eternal that Ridloff plays is Makkari, who has super speed. Makkari is deaf as well, thus becoming the first deaf superhero Marvel has featured on the big screen.
Fortunately we are seeing more stories being told from the perspective of deaf characters. Recently the comedy series Only Murders in the Building featured an episode entirely from the POV of a deaf character. But there's still a long way to go.
Although Ridloff had gone to audition for a different movie, she got handpicked by director Chloe Zhao for the role.
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She told the Hollywood Reporter, "I didn’t audition for the role of Makkari. I was called for a sit-down meeting with Chloé and [producer] Nate Moore about a new untitled Marvel project."
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"During that meeting, they introduced The Eternals to me and tried to capture the story and the people that make up the Eternals. The conversation shifted to Makkari, who Makkari was in the comics and would be in the film."
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The opportunity to represent the deaf community in a big-budget movie was quite an emotional experience for Ridloff, who admitted that she cried at a special screening of the movie in October.
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She explained, "It felt like it was a lifetime of waiting. I didn’t really see anyone like myself ever represented on the screen."
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Well, her character in the movie has touched the hearts of viewers too.
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Warning: Spoilers below!