Troy Kotsur Makes History With SAG Awards 2022

Hollywoodreporter.com: CODA‘s Troy Kotsur has made history with his best supporting actor 2022 SAG Awards win. Kotsur is the first deaf actor to be nominated and win a sole acting prize at the SAG Awards.

He accepted the award with an emotional and comedic signed speech. “I’ve been a member [of SAG] since 2001, so now I feel like I’m finally part of the family,” he said. “I know you all know what it’s like to be a starving actor. Back then I used to sleep in my car, I slept in my dressing room backstage, and all of that. You feel me, right?”

He continued by thanking his film’s producers and cast, adding his gratitude to Apple TV+ for “all of their support and access, like burned-in closed captioning, providing ASL interpreting services and believing in us deaf actors and casting us authentically as actors who happen to be deaf.”

CODA, directed by Sian Heder, also won best cast at the SAG Awards. Kotsur and the film are additionally nominated for supporting actor and best picture at the Oscars, respectively, as well as adapted screenplay for Heder at the Academy Awards.

“I’m overwhelmed, I’m excited and I didn’t realize how heavy this is. This is my first time holding something like this and I think I’m going to sleep with it in bed tonight,” Kotsur told press backstage after accepting his award, adding that over the course of his career, “I was a risk taker. That’s what my father always liked to call me. I’m really glad that I took those risks even though I have to admit it was a tough journey, but here’s the payoff of all of that struggle.”

Previous recent winners of the supporting actor award include Daniel Kaluuya, Brad Pitt, Mahershala Ali (twice) and Sam Rockwell, all of whom went on to win the respective Oscar as well.