Troy Kotsur Becomes the First Deaf Actor to Win a SAG Award: "I'm So Grateful"

"CODA" star Troy Kotsur is a SAG Award winner! The 53-year-old actor won an award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role. His award is a historic first as a deaf actor to be nominated and win in an individual category.

Kotsur has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild since 2001. The "CODA" star has been working in entertainment for 20 years as both an actor in projects, including "Sue Thomas: F.B.EYE.," "Criminal Minds," and "The Mandalorian," and director for his 2013 movie "No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie." He's also worked on Broadway, starring in the Tony Award-winning "Big River."

During Kotsur's SAG Awards's acceptance speech, he opened up about his journey as an actor; thanked his costars, including Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Eugenio Derbez, and Daniel Durant, as well as his wife, Deanne Bray, and daughter, Kyra; and commended Apple TV+ for its support and access such as "closed captioning, providing ASL interpreting services, and believing in us deaf actors, and casting us authentically as actors who happen to be deaf." See his full speech below.

Following Kotsur's win and the "CODA" ensemble's win for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, his costar Matlin said in a virtual press room, "It's a night that I've been waiting for for 35 years. It has been time and this just validates among those people who voted for us at SAG AFTRA. They know that we are their peers [and] their equals. We are all actors." She continued, "This gives more opportunities for other actors out there — whatever they may be — as long as they're talented."