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A grin on his face, he shuffles to his side, and throws a thumb up.
Racis splash onto the scene has been one of this awards seasons greatest, most welcome narratives.
And I gotta do something, I gotta make it happen.
Itshouldbe inspirational, dammit, he says, laughing.
I hope it is, man!
Youve said before that you discovered your love for performance through being your parents hearing interpreter.
Does this then feel like a pretty full-circle moment?Yeah, it certainly is.
Especially because of the content of the movie and the way I grew up.
I have to admit, its an emotional experience for me.
They would have loved the movie, they would have loved to see all this recognition.
But God, in a way, its made me even closer to them.
You think about your parents all the time, but now, I really do.
He used to be a drummer when he was young.Oh, well there ya go.
Its a population, including your father, including a lot of musicians, thats just forgotten by society.
So I just think: Im gonna ignore it.
And then it finally goes away.
But when it hits, its right there.
You cant hear anything else.
When I was growing up, it was the Deaf world and the hearing world.
The connection between the two did not exist.
Were going to fix this [he points at his head].
It comes across as quite shocking to hear about the two cultures in a kind of binary opposition.
So thats how my parents felt: Im a bother, its too much trouble.
And so thats really my point, how isolating it is.
How must that feel to any Deaf person, especially a culturally Deaf person, who hears nothing?
Its devastating, to say the least, for many people.
To be here now, then, after so many years, its an incredible feat of endurance.
How did you do it?[Laughs.]
I love that choice of words there, thats good.
Ill tell you what, Jack: First of all, Im an actor.
Thats what I decided I was at a very early age.
So when you fall in love with that, any profession, youre just going to do it.
But I didnt have very much success with it.
And if I got lucky, Id do some acting.
But it was just the pure desire to keep on doing what I wanted to keep on doing.
And it looks like I held out long enough.
Theres something to be said for luck being involved.
But I wasnt counting on anything at this point.
You know, like I said, Im in my 70s now.
Im not going to hold my breath waiting for somebody.
Im going to move on and keep on going.
It just goes to show how many actors have been forgotten because of the need for names.
She emailed me just a couple of days ago … Im getting emotional.
And youre an inspiration to all of them.
Theyre looking for that shot.
And the way the system is here that monster, that beast it thrives on names and recognition.
And the bottom line is the dollar.
I understand that better than anybody because Ive been rejected so many times.
Ive been told so many times theyre going with a name.
Was it worth it?
I thought of that question a million times myself.
Did I want to make more money?
Yes, but it never happened.
Was I happy anyway?
Yes, yes, and yes!
Shes a brilliant songwriter, performer.
That was absolutely the joy of my life.
Have I had some ups and downs?
Yeah, it was totally worth it.
I cant imagine it happening any other way.
And at the age of 73, this is like adding 20 years to my life.
I feel like Im 24.
Im raring to go.
