At the 44th Annual Muse Awards, hosted by New York Women in Film & Television, a number of women in the entertainment industry were honored, including SAG-AFTRA President Fran Dreschaer, Alex Borstein, Kyra Sedgwick, Tantoo Cardinal, Latasha Gillespie, Michèle Stephenson, Raney Aronson-Rath, and young deaf actress Millicent Simmonds. Variety reported on the Awards ceremony, and Millicent Simmonds’ comments on deaf representation in Hollywood. 

During the event, Simmonds discussed Hollywood’s rapid change over the last few years, “I’ve already seen such a major shift in the industry. In the past few years, you see more things that are accessible,” the actress shared. “You see more captions. You see more inclusion in the industry. People seem to be more open-minded. I’m seeing that there is more compassion. I’m so grateful for that shift.”

Simmonds starred as Regan Abbott, the daughter of stars Emily Blunt and John Krasinski (who also directed the film), in A Quiet Place. Speaking about the choice to cast Simmonds to IGN during the film’s release cycle, Krasinski said “I knew I needed a girl who was deaf for the role of the daughter, who is deaf in the movie. And for many reasons, I didn’t want a non-deaf actress pretending to be deaf. Most importantly though, because a deaf actress would help my knowledge and my understanding of the situations tenfold. I wanted someone who lives it and who could teach me about it on set. We found the most wonderful actress in Millicent. She is truly something special.”

While there is a long way to go, projects like A Quiet Place, Marvel’s recent Disney+ series Echo, and the 2022 Best Picture winner CODA show that there is a place for deaf representation in Hollywood.