Actress Lauren Ridloff, co-star of the Marvel Studios film “Eternals”

Lauren Ridloff has been deaf since birth

Three years ago, Lauren Ridloff gave an interview that concluded with the actor contemplating what she wanted to do next.

Ridloff only had one major role under her belt, albeit an acclaimed one. Ridloff was then starring in a Broadway revival of “Children of a Lesser God,” a performance that earned her a Tony nomination and turned the then 40-year-old former kindergarten teacher into a breakout star.

Ridloff hadn’t set out to necessarily be an actor. She initially was just helping “Children of a Lesser God” director Kenny Leon as a sign language tutor. Still, at that moment, Ridloff set her sights high. Talking to The New York Times in May 2018, she said she’d like to play a superhero.

To Ridloff’s surprise, the wish came true. In Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals,” Ridloff played the first deaf superhero in Marvel’s “cinematic universe.” In the film, which Disney released in theaters, Ridloff plays one of 10 immortal guardians alongside Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani.

“It was a manifestation,” Ridloff says, laughing. “At that time, I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue in acting. I was honestly terrified. I had given up a career as a teacher and I went to try acting, but then my Broadway show was ending. What’s next? Do I even bet on auditioning? I didn’t think Hollywood was ready for a deaf actor at the time, let alone a deaf superhero.”

“It means so much to me to be able to, you know, break barriers. And I want to tell you that I am not the first deaf actor out there. I’m beyond not. And I’m not the first to have a leading role, you know, in a film, I’m not, but it’s a really good time right now for deaf talent. And I think what it means for me, just to be able to play a superhero, means that finally, we actually can show the world the idea of deaf gain. I do not wake up in the morning and think, ‘Gosh, I’m deaf. What challenges am I going to face today? What do I need to overcome?’ I don’t, that’s not how I go through life at all. So, to be able to have the opportunity to play a very powerful woman who just happens to be deaf, and because of her deafness, she’s able to do super things that other people can’t do, I don’t know, it’s a blessing.”

Ridloff, though, had an epiphany while jogging, a hobby she considers a form of meditation. It was a fitting place to find clarity: In the film, her character Makkari has super speed, one of several traits of a character — a beefy white guy in the comics — that’s party drawn from Ridloff’s own characteristics.

Lauren Ridloff on Being the Fastest Woman in the MCU | Eternals Red Carpet LIVE

“I realized when I started talking about me and when I started using pronouns like ‘I’ rather than ‘we,’ that’s how I can be my most authentic self. I can tell my own story, and I can allow people to decide if they identify and relate to me,” Ridloff says. “With that understanding, I feel so much more comfortable in my role.”

One question remains for Ridloff. Now that she’s a superhero, what would she like to do next?

“I would love to be a part of something similar to ‘Bridgerton,’ something that’s a period piece film because, really, you don’t see that many deaf people in period pieces,” says Ridloff. She smiles. “So, I’m putting that out there.”

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