Original-Cin Q&A: Actor Marlee Matlin and Her Documentarian Speak Up for the Deaf
By Bonnie Laufer
The documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, which recently played Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival, focuses on the life and career of actress Marlee Matlin, highlighting her experiences as a Deaf individual in the entertainment industry and the wider world.
Director (left) and her subject in conversation.
Directed by Shoshannah Stern, who is also Deaf, the films explores Matlin’s journey from her groundbreaking Oscar win for Children of a Lesser God to her advocacy work for the Deaf community and her personal struggles with addiction and abusive relationships.
With the assistance of Matlin's interpreter Jack Jason and Stern's interpreter Karri Aiken, Bonnie Laufer spoke with Matlin and Stern about getting the project off the ground and how they found profound trust in each other. Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore plays Toronto’s TIFF Lightbox and Vancouver VIFF Centre starting July 25, with more cities to follow in the coming weeks.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Marlee, you released your autobiography about 15 years ago. I learned a lot about you when I read that, but I learned much more from this film. Was this process cathartic and why tell your story for the screen now?
MARLEE MATLIN: I wrote the book with a very open approach. I worked with Betsy Sharkey, a wonderful writer, and I understood that I had to have a third person involved, because we had to use an interpreter. When (production company) American Masters approached me about the film with a Deaf woman director, I thought, ‘Now we're talking about my story on film. We're not talking about the printed word. It’s my voice so to speak, in a printed word, but on a film with a camera, with the two of us, you'd get a more authentic telling of who I am.’
The difference between having a conversation with Shoshannah and all the previous conversations I've had in my life were immense. I noticed immediately that I was much more at home, because we were having a conversation through my language. There was no third person. There was nobody translating for me. It was very transparent. I'm the type of person who doesn't shy away from sharing my experiences, if it comes from me.
O-C: So immediately connecting with Shoshannah was one of the main reasons this worked so well?
MM: Oh yes. Connecting with Shoshannah allowed me to freely express myself. I don't want to speak for her, but I think the editing might have been difficult for her. She had to decide what it was that we're going to do with the film, what archival material to use because that wasn't for me to decide. We just talked about everything, whatever it was that I was feeling at that time of the conversation, I just brought it forth and she made it work.
O-C: Shoshannah, let's jump on what Marlee just said. I can't imagine that the first time you met you didn't become besties. But now she’s entrusting you with her life, so to speak. You had access to so much amazing footage. You had interviews, her family, where do you even start? How daunting was that?
SHOSHANNAH STERN: It was my first time directing a documentary. I have been in this business for over 20 years now, so I knew what I was up against. I know how many people it takes to say yes to a project and for a project to happen. I also knew what people were going to say as a reason why this might not work. I know what words people typically use to say those things.
A lot of my knowledge comes from having seen what Marlee has been up against since the start of her career. There are a lot of clips of Marlee in past interviews that I had seen over the years that stuck with me. So, when I started working with our archivist, I could tell my archivist specific moments that I was looking for because I recall everything so vividly. I could remember this person saying this, or had said it this way, and their hair looked a certain way… all these things I realized was how the world saw me too. And that was what I was up against because that's what Marley went through. It's not the way that I saw myself, necessarily, and it's not the way that I experienced the world, but it is the way that people have decided that we do.
I knew I had daunting but exciting work ahead of me, but I also believed that I had this really exciting opportunity to reframe things and to show the world the way that Marlee and I experience it, and if I did things the way that were typically expected, I would still be up against a lot regardless. Either way, I would still have people that would say, ‘This might be a challenge for you because you can't hear.’ I decided that I wasn't going to use the word challenge or the word pressure, I decided that I was going to use the word opportunity and that’s how I approach everything that I do.
O-C: We know that Marlee is an open book. But were there times she told you not to include something?
SS: There was one thing!
MM: Yes, there was only one thing that I asked her not to use. One day while filming, I texted her afterwards and asked, ‘Would you mind not using me singing a song in the car?’ I didn’t want her to put it in because it's very personal. People don't know that I can do that or have seen me do that. I said, ‘Do I really want to share with the world that I'm able to sing Billy Joel?’ But Shoshannah got her way!
O-C: I will never forget watching CODA. It’s one of the most touching and inspirational films I’ve ever seen. Has it helped Deaf actors and crew get more work?
MM: Ask Hollywood. Ask those who are the ones who make the decisions, the ones who have the power. Why are they afraid to collaborate with Deaf writers, directors, actors, or even talk to the casting directors? I think there are two or three productions right now using Deaf actors. Sian Heder is making a film about the life of Judy Heumann, a disability rights activist and there are two Deaf actors in the film that are well known in the Deaf community. But overall, you're right. There is not this instantaneous support on behalf of Deaf actors. Daniel Durant got work after working at CODA, and Troy Kotsur did too, but I haven't worked in front of the camera for years.
O-C: What impressed or surprised you most about Marlee Matlin?
SS: The depth that Marlee has, and the depth of her bravery. She's always persevering. I think that people really don't know how hard Marlee has been working, and how hard she works. I thought I knew, but it’s vast. She really does everything, and she does everything for other people. This documentary is about her, but it's more about really seeing the big picture. She thinks if I do this, then it's going to open doors for other people, and that's something that people still don't know about her. She really does think about the collective rather than the individual.
O-C: Marlee, I was so moved by so many aspects of this documentary, but what really stuck with me was when you went to your brother's home for dinner and you were sitting on the couch. Everybody's having a conversation, and you're like, ‘I can't hear you’ and you signed, ‘I’m bored!’ What were your siblings’ reactions after seeing this documentary?
MM: I can't really speak for my family, but I can share just a little bit of the experience of their reactions when they saw the film. They've only seen it one time and like me watching it for the first time, everything was a blur. But when I was with both of my brothers, in all honesty, I was not surprised how they felt. They were just trying to be civil with me and by that I mean they had certainly questions, and they certainly were puzzled why I would sign the word ‘bored.’
They probably still don't, because we haven't had the opportunity to follow up on this yet. But I wanted to say to them or explain to them that it's just not me that this happens to. This happens to 90 to 95 percent of Deaf people who come from hearing families, and they are not at fault. It's the system that creates this. This is all part of a healing process and making this film has surely paved the road.