[Bradley]: Hi everybody, I am so thrilled to be here today to talk with the cast and the creators and producers of one of my favorite movies of the year, a short called Feeling Through which actually is nominated for an Oscar, which is an incredible, an incredible honor. Let me just introduce everyone. By the way, I am a 61 year old white haired man. A white haired white man is what I am, but I want to introduce Doug Roland, Marlee Matlin, an old friend of mine is a Producer- Executive producer, excuse me, and a couple of terrific actors whose work I had never seen before Robert Tarango and Steven Prescod before I get into it, I just want to say that I responded so strongly to this movie because it feels like an ally in the fight against the war of the myth of separateness, if that makes any sense. And it takes two people from radically different worlds, radically different experiences, and brings them together. There is some fear that goes on. And over the course of the film, one of the things I loved as an actor is just the character development, the arc of both of these characters. But Doug, I know this came from a real experience, so I'd love to know what that was, and I'd love to know the moment when you realized this. This was a perfect short movie.
[Doug]: I'm Doug, I'm a white male in my thirties. I have a short, dark beard and a short dark hair, and I'm wearing a blue button up shirt with a plain white background. And you know, Bradley, I love your quote about, I'm paraphrasing now, but what you were just saying about the the myth of separateness, I think if I was gonna kind of title the experience itself, I think that was probably the takeaway from it. But as you were alluding to it, it was inspired by a real life encounter I had ten years ago. And though the film is a fictionalized account of that, what does remain true from my experience was how two characters met. Ten years ago, I met a DeafBlind man standing on a corner by himself, late night, holding the very sign that you see in the movie. And also the way in which we communicated the way in which Tereek can already communicate in the film is very similar to how I communicated with this man Artemio at first, I just tapped him to let him know I was there. He pulled out a notepad, wrote a bus stop he needed. When I took him there, I realized the bus wasn't coming for a very long time and wanted to let them know I'd sit and wait, but didn't know how to communicate with him. And just instinctively. I took his palm and just tried writing one letter at a time on it with my finger. He understood that, and we had a whole conversation that way. And I think as far as the moment where I knew this would be a great short film, that would probably be about a year later when I wrote the short film. But the moment that I knew this was a life-changing event was like pretty much the moment that I walked up and tapped this man named Artemio obviously already the character being a nod to the real life Artemio. And it was one of those instances in life where every molecule in your body is firing and you feel like something's being gained, obviously it's, in this case, it's really been a ten year journey to understand what that is. I think the process of writing it, shooting it and exhibiting it. I learned something new every day about what new takeaways from that moment ten years ago, but it really more than anything beyond opening my consciousness to a community that I knew virtually nothing about, other than hearing about Helen Keller years prior, I think, again, you summed it up perfectly in your introduction about more than anything. It wasn't about the differences between Artemio and I, it was this real deeper understanding of the ways in which we're inextricably linked and connected despite whatever those differences may be.
[Bradley]: I'm just curious, did you see Artemio after that evening?
[Doug]: So the great story behind that is that we actually shot a companion documentary while we were shooting the film that people can find on feelingthrough.com if they're interested, and that not only documents you know, the inspiration behind the film, my partnering with Helen Keller National Center. We had cameras in the room when we cast Robert, who has pulled out of the kitchen at Helen Keller National Center, where he was working at the time to audition. But it also follows the year long journey of trying to track down Artemio. When we started to try to track him down it was seven years after the incident, and though Helen Keller National Center, after me describing this man was very quickly able to identify who it was, because he had actually passed through the center years prior, no one had any contact info for him. So we literally spent like a year reaching out to people in the community, thinking at first, maybe he's in Minneapolis, maybe moved to Seattle and sure enough, no embellishment here, the day before we start shooting the film, I get an email saying that we haven't addressed for Artemio, we found him. So spoiler alert for the doc here, but actually I had cameras with me when I went to visit him, and reunite with him. And it was, it was an amazing moment.
[Bradley]: Wow, wow. Marlee, before I get into the actors who I just, again, fell in love with in this, Marlee talk a little bit about, I'm interested in your perspective on what representation means to this community and the distinction between representation and the shortcut Hollywood often takes, which is tokenism. Just talk a little bit to me about that.
[Marlee]: I'm Marlee Matlin. And I'm a white woman with blonde hair. It's not really blonde, but I mean, it's blonde, and I'm wearing a purple jacket with a blue shirt. Brad and I have worked together and we understand how Hollywood operates, what they call representation or not. And for the longest time in the entertainment business, and I've been around for about 35 years, I've had the opportunity to play characters who clearly are deaf. And a lot of times the story incorporates aspects of being deaf, mentioning deafness, focusing on deafness. And for example I'm not going to mention exactly the project, but on the West Wing, for example, we didn't do that. Aaron Sorkin just wrote me into the role and the character didn't dwell on being deaf. It wasn't about being deaf and it just happened to be a pollster. So that kind of occurred. Some Hollywood is rare and is mirrored again in Feeling Through, because I came on after the fact, and I saw once again, how representation took place that this is authenticity in action. This is representation in action. This is what we need to have more of in Hollywood. And Doug Roland is one person who understands that you had to cast authentically that disability isn't a costume that you wear that you take off at the end of the day, when you're shooting a film. Nobody these days is willing to accept that because we've been making noise and no one, hopefully anyone who hears me speaking about this will understand that there are actors out there who can play roles authentically. Writers out there who can write authentically, and so forth and so on. So representation is very important right now with a capital
[Marlee]: A embedded in it, Authenticity.
[Bradley]: I often make the joke that if you look up white privilege in the dictionary, the definition is my headshot. And part of that, part of something I've realized is that all underrepresented communities, all in my world, in the acting world, when they take a part there is an obligation to represent that's never occurs to a seeing hearing white man. I'm not representing anything. And I know that that it's a dance in your life morally where you want to take the opportunities to represent in order to create opportunities for more fully fleshed portrayals of communities like the deaf community. Let me go, let me just talk for a second to Robert, Robert Tarango, the first DeafBlind actor to star in a film. I definitely want to know what that felt like. I want to know what the audition was and I know I want to know what it, what it feels like, to get what I am sure is kind of unfamiliar a wave of attention like this
[Robert]: Hi there, I'm wearing a green t-shirt, I am a Hispanic native American man with gray hair, and I am 55 years old. So when I first was approached about Feeling Through, I feel great about it. I mean, great people got to see that a DeafBlind person can be successful in the film industry. And for me, it was powerful. It was positive, and it is showing the world what we can do, and not from the perception of what a hearing sighted worlds can do. But here I am as a DeafBlind adult acting and to show that we need more of that understanding our culture, understanding who we are, regardless of whether you're sighted, blind, hearing, deaf, we're all the same. We need to make that connection, that relationship to work with one another. And I hope that this woke up Hollywood so that other people who have aspirations to do this can.
[Bradley]: Steven, let me, let me ask. I thought it was such a wonderfully nuanced- you know what I loved about what you guys did all all together. But Steven, you didn't sentimentalize this. I believed your edge. I understood your fear of encountering someone unlike anyone you've ever encountered before. And I could I saw you do something that disappointed me in the bodega, and I saw you sort of transcend that at the end. Just tell me, tell me what this experience how did this movie come to you? What was it like working with a DeafBlind actor, and what was the set like? I just like to know what the process was.
[Steven]: Well, thank you Bradley for doing this with us. My name is Steven and I am an African-American male. I have two braids going back and I have a clear quartz earing in my ear. Well, I was first introduced to the project through my manager. He sent me the sides for it, and I did a self tape and Doug told me it was actually one of the last tapes that got put in. So then I was excited that I actually got a call back. And that was the first time I was able to have an audition face-to-face with Doug. And actually after I booked the role I had no idea that I was playing alongside an actor who was actually deaf and blind. So I was like, am I going to have a chance to actually meet with him first.
[Steven]: And he was like, yeah, for sure. So I had the opportunity to go to the Helen Keller center and then that's when Robert and I first met and it was like an instant connection. I felt like we hit it off. We had this chemistry and we built a lot of trust. So it was good that we actually were able to build that trust before we got on set, because it just made everything go run so smoothly, even with all the interpreters, but just being on the set, putting on the close, and it made everything more realistic for me than it was actually just auditioning for it. Yeah, I think that's, that's stuff I hope I answered.
[Bradley]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And where you I was confused as the writing on the hand is that it seems like such a discovery for your character. Is that something Doug that that you happened upon is that a way to communicate with deaf and blind people?
[Doug]: You know, that was something that in the moment, ten years ago, when I was meeting Artemio, who inspired this. It was something that literally, I'd never thought about doing before, and just kind of came out of both ingenuity and also like a little bit of desperation of trying to figure out how to communicate with him. Later on I would find out that it's a form of communication called print on palm. It is used sometimes I think from what I've gathered, it's something that's probably more often used in a situation like myself, communicating with someone who's a tactile communicator where if I don't know ASL and I'm not able to like sign it tactically into that person's hand, I can use that method. You're more likely to find DeafBlind people who are tactile using tactile ASL, which is again, just ASL sign into the hand, but it is a form of communication called print on palm that I'd later learned.
[Bradley]: I want to go back to Robert. I wanna know what did the audition feel like? I am someone who hates auditions.
[Steven]: I can second that.
[Bradley]: But what was the audition process?
[Robert]: Well, I was at work. I was at work in the cafeteria and my boss, Dan came up to me and said, come here. And I was like, what's up? He said, you need to go over to the other building. And I was like, why do I need to go to the other building? He's like, just get over there. And I'm like, why do I need to go to the other building? I really had no idea what was going on. So I walked over to what we call the training, building up to the second floor meeting room and sort of walked into this end, scan the room going, what is going on in here? So I saw all these people sitting there. I slowly sat down and Doug explained the process and I was like, what seriously? You want me to audition for a film? I'm like, wait, wait, wait, okay, hang on, hang on, hang on. Let me think about this. I'm like, are you serious? I was so excited that Doug extended the invitation and again, to have a DeafBlind actor in a leading role was amazing.
[Bradley]: Yeah. Yeah, it is. It is amazing. Steven, where were you were you initially tentative about communicating with Robert and I'm just imagining that, that you might be tentative at first, but as you, as you get into the shooting it did the communication between takes become more casual. Because I think for most people who are not exposed to communities like this, they don't realize how quickly people's fundamental humanity and the ability to connect makes itself available. But initially, did you have fear about being able to communicate, did it get more comfortable? What was that like?
[Steven]: I can say to an extent because I was actually, since, I remember I was ten, there was a neighbor that lived next door to me. His mother was blind and so I used to go over there and visit, you know what I mean? So I was ready. I already was exposed to that side of the community. And I also have a cousin who's who's deaf. But I never met someone who who's actually both deaf and blind. That was something I always thought about. We all heard of Helen Keller, but yeah, I did have my thoughts how are we going to communicate, but being able to meet before the actual set date, when we actually had to shoot it just made, it really made everything smooth and authentic, just like we casually naturally anytime I had something to say, there was an interpreter there to interpret for me. And yeah, I mean, it made everything run very smoothly. I can't say there were any like misguided hiccups or I don't know how to really say that, but yeah, I ran really smoothly, honestly, I can say.
[Bradley]: Well, Doug, just as somebody who's done this for decades, you're very smart too. It always baffles me that people don't understand how valuable rehearsal is in the world of film, just because it's so bizarre to walk onto a set and with crews standing around you try to be a human being with another human being. So that's smart. Marlee, I wanna I get upset when I hear my own when discussions about representation come up and I'm just interested in your thoughts on this there is a version of, excuse the French sort of Trump thinking that there is a fixed amount of real estate in the storytelling business. And if God forbid, we open it up to all the different people who have stories to tell it will diminish rather than invigorate the business.
[Bradley]: And it always drives me nuts because the magic and show business are these voices that are fresh. Show business is always sort of usurping what came before it. Part of the reason show business gets so tired is because it's the same people telling the same stories. And I'm just wondering if you agree with that and what your feelings are about the idea that actually diversity is not some service that needs to be performed even even if you don't care about equity and representation, the fact is the most exciting stories come from these underrepresented communities.
[Marlee]: Absolutely, absolutely. You get it, my friend, you really do get it. I have been saying all along since December, when I hopped on board with as much clarity as I can provide to anyone who was willing to listen to me that this film is one great living example of the fact that representation, of course, we talk about representation, representation. Doesn't last one project. It's not the flavor of the year. Representation is ongoing because Hollywood has a tendency to fall in love with something rave about something with the thing feels so new and different. And then the next thing they feel like they've checked off the box and they move on to whatever next day list or they want to focus on or whatever biggest blockbuster they want to focus on. And then once again, something like this comes up and they're like, Oh God, this is great.
[Marlee]: And you know, it's like off and on hot and cold, hot and cold. And I don't know how much more I need to do to represent what you just said. We are here. We have beautiful stories to tell, beautiful stories to share. We have beautiful actors to show you all, and I'm not one to complain, but I'm certainly one to make noise, even though I'm deaf. So you and I had a chance to work together and you knew how I work and I know how you work. And the reason is, is because we both are actors who care just the same way that Robert and Steven actors who trust each other, actors who work together. And when someone mentioned something about there's an, Oh my gosh, how are we going to deal with something we've never seen before? It's this is what, how is this going to work? Is it's it's okay. It's okay. We collaborate, we learn, we teach, we educate and we listen and we learn to trust. And that's all, it takes simple as that.
[Bradley]: You know I always think about on top of the ability to connect, you're exposed to a world you may not be familiar with. I think of my experience of watching a Big River the Deaf West production and all of those productions that I have seen where seeing a production that is with deaf performers, even in a musical is a better way, a more expressive way.
[Marlee]: It's just like when we did spring awakening on Broadway, the same thing, it's a better musical.
[Bradley]: It's not a concession and we're not checking a box. It's a better way to tell the story.
[Marlee]: Exactly, exactly right. Yeah.
[Bradley]: Doug, tell me, I think I know, but you've obviously lived with this story forever. I want to know a little bit about how you connected with the Helen Helen Keller society and how you wanted to include them ways that you were able to do that ways that Hollywood can get more people involved from these communities, both in front and behind the cameras. Just talk to me a little bit about that that connection with them, and with that community, and where it can go from here.
[Doug]: Yeah, absolutely. You know, for me, it was, it was instinct for me. The, the actual story was that I'd written this short, like about nine years ago now I wrote it like a year after I encountered Artemio, but it lived on my computer for you six plus years. Because when I first wrote it, I just, I didn't feel like I could do it justice really, honestly. So I lived on my computer and on a fateful day, a little over three years ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop in Los Angeles on a rainy day, which was already just, how depressing is that a rainy day in Los Angeles and a coffee shop in the middle of the day. And I was like just relegated to cleaning up my really messy desktop of my laptop, and I opened a folder I hadn't opened in a while, read the script and immediately knew I needed to make it in that moment, just gut feeling. And literally before my rational mind kicked in, I just Googled DeafBlind organization. And I called literally the first number that popped up on Google. I spoke to this gentleman, I told him about this incident that had happened to me, this story that I written, and then I on the spot again, without thinking about it. I said, and I feel like I want to cast a DeafBlind actor. Is that crazy? Is what I said to him, because I still had only met Artemio I knew nothing about the community. And he said, no, that's not crazy at all. You should reach out to the Helen Keller National Center. So that was why I reached out to them specifically. And it took a little while to court them, and meanwhile, I live near the braille Institute here in Los Angeles, and I was driving by in the midst of this time period. And I saw it and I parked immediately. And I just walked in and I started telling the guy who sits at the front desk, my story. And he's like, very quickly. He's like, I'm not the guy you want to speak to, but go down the hall, make a left, make a right, make another left. There's a woman there, tell it to her. And before I knew it, I knew everyone at the braille Institute, I was sitting in on DeafBlind classes at the braille Institute, getting to know the local DeafBlind community. You know, someone at the braille Institute was like, you should go to this DeafBlind living facility out in Eagle Rock. So I went out there, met a bunch of the residents there, and the gentleman Jim, who runs that place. And then I heard back from Helen Keller National Center met with them. They Sue resent skews might mind you, my co-nominee in this is Sue Ruzenski, who's the CEO of the parent organization, Helen Keller Services, who's never made a movie before never even dreamt of being a part of one. She's had her entire 40 plus year career has been dedicated to serving the DeafBlind community. Now she's an Oscar nominee, which I think is pretty cool. But we see, we connected, she's like, look, we've never done anything like this before, but I have a gut feeling this is the right thing to do. And that was three years ago. And what we've done more than like almost three and a half now. And what we've done during that period is I went to that Helen Keller National Center, many times met with the staff there, the students there who are DeafBlind and some of the staff was DeafBlind, and just, it was more than doing my homework. It was actually building meaningful relationships with people in the community, some of which are still good friends of mine, three plus years down the road here. Colleagues of mine who were DeafBlind that I've been working with for three plus years on this. So it was more than, I love that you brought this up a couple of times Bradley, it wasn't about checking boxes. This was something that deeply moved me. And from that deep place I was compelled to seek out the things that would make this the best possible thing I could do within the resources I had. And I was always operating from there. And, and as far as what Hollywood can do it was, which is the last part of your question there. I was like, go a level deeper than checking the boxes. Because look, honestly, checking the boxes is better than not doing anything at all, but how about we go a level deeper than that and understand that there's deep value in actually coming at this from a more heartfelt place of knowing that it's also going to serve the stories that you tell as you were just discussing with Marlee, that you're going to get more interesting stories. The thing that people love about film, the reason people love those Marvel movies and, and all these other sci-fi worlds and everything is because film can take you to a place you've never been before. And so a community that's been so really not represented at all, like the DeafBlind community is a world people want to know about we've shown this to millions of people now, and they are so interested to learn, get a little window into this world. And then there's so many people that reach out to were so motivated to learn more about it and feel like they have a personal connection to a community they never had before. And they live with this film for a long time after seeing it. And isn't that what ultimately is a large part of what we're trying to do here is like actually impact people and make them think about things that they maybe have never thought about and want to learn about things they should learn about. And that's something that I think just my advice to anyone who's like me three plus years ago, starting out on a journey like this would be, Don't just do something. Because it's the box checking, right? Thing to do, like really search a little bit deeper and be open to coming out a more well-rounded person from the experience.
[Bradley]: Well your connection to-.
[Marlee]: We need more Doug Rolands in the world.
[Bradley]: Yes, we need more Dougs. but yeah, I think about too, it's just, again, not to be the self lacerating white guy, but I just think about how being able to tell stories to participate in storytelling has been the heartbeat of my life and all communities all people need to be able to tell stories and to tell stories about their own community in an authentic way. I'm wondering Robert, are you given everything up and coming to Hollywood, is that happening?
[Robert]: Yup. I am ready, willing and able. And in fact, I am coming on Monday for the Oscars, so-
[Bradley]: Oh my God, you're going to the Oscars!
[Robert]: I'm going next week. Yeah. So I'm really looking forward to meeting people and I just can't wait to meet folks. I can't wait to meet Marlee face-to-face. But really, I just hope that I'll be able to meet you if you're around. I'm just very excited. I can't wait to meet all the movie stars cannot wait. I'm thrilled to be a part of this inspired and yeah, I am absolutely ready, willing, and able to go, because I think that it's really important that people see like, Oh, that's the DeafBlind actor. And I'm like, yep. Yes I am.
[Marlee]: And I can't wait to see what lies ahead for Steven as an actor, because he's gotten so much praise.
[Bradley]: Yeah, I will second and third that I was blown away. Are you coming to the Oscars, Steven?
[Marlee]: Oh, I'll be there on the screen. And in spirit with everyone. My mom, she's planning a Zoom party actually with everyone, so we all will be together soon.
[Bradley]: Good, good, good. I know you're going to be, I can't wait to see where your career goes. I thought both of you guys were absolutely spectacular and as Marlee knows when it comes to other actors, my heart is the size of a raisin.
[Steven]: I love that.
[Bradley]: No, I'm kidding. Doug congratulations. You know what you can feel in this thing? I think about this all the time. When I was coming up in New York, Joe Papp thought it would be a good idea. And it sounds like a good idea to do every single one of Shakespeare's plays. It was a marathon. And a lot of them were terrible, terrible productions, because if you get asked to do a production of Troilus and Cressida at the public, the director's gonna say yes, but they haven't been dying to do it for years. They don't have a deep need to to get a story out and get it get it out right. And all of that energy is underneath it, not only from you but from the actors. And it was an absolute joy to watch. So, do not miss Feeling Through and thank you all for being here. Thank you so much. Such a pleasure.