Interview with Keivonn Woodard in HBO’s “The Last of Us” series
If you are familiar with video games, you will recognize the title “The Last of Us.” This video game has turned into a TV series and will be released on January 15, 2023, on HBO. This series will feature Keivonn Woodard, a 9-year-old Black Deaf actor as the character “Sam.”
(show full-screen images of 7.1 PIPs one-by-one)
The genre of “The Last of Us” TV series is drama and post-apocalyptic fiction. Keivonn’s role is Sam and he will appear in episodes 5 and 6. Sam is someone who meets two of the main characters as they are traveling across the USA. In the video game, the character Sam is hearing, but for this TV series, the producers made that character open to having a Deaf person fill that role.
To our knowledge, Keivonn is the first Black Deaf young actor ever to be featured in a TV series by a major studio. We reached out to Keivonn and his mother April Jackson for an interview about their experience.
[INTERVIEW]
Renca: The release is on January 15th, are you feeling good? Nervous? What do you think?
Keivonn Woodard: I feel nervous yeah, but excited too.
Renca: Have you enjoyed your experience having a role in this show? Where did you travel to again?
Keivonn: Canada.
April Jackson-Woodard: More specifically, Calgary in Alberta. Calgary in Alberta, Canada. It’s in the Western region of Canada. The province is north of Oregon, Washington, and California in the US. We stayed there for two months and two weeks!
Keivonn: Also, sometimes I would be acting all morning. Sometimes it would go on all afternoon. We could go home at night in my trailer. I could sleep there or do my work there.
April: The overall experience was incredible. It was important to me to always be discussing with him how he was feeling and how he felt working with his team. I had the expectations, of course, that him being Deaf, I was ready for barriers, and problems to happen, but that was not the case at all! I’m thankful we had such a great team that was receptive and motivated along with us. We were very fortunate to have that great team.
Renca: Do you have anything you’d like to share with Black Deaf youth, the Black and Brown Deaf communities, or the Deaf community at large? For any young people watching who want to get involved in acting as well?
Keivonn: Sure! So I would say, you don’t have to be afraid! Don’t be afraid to try it out. Because that’s what my parents told me – to not be afraid to try out. I was a bit afraid at first, but I went ahead and overcame that, auditioned, and got the role with The Last of Us! I was mind-blown.
Renca: That’s good. Thank you for sharing!
April: Just support your children, foster and nurture their dreams. We as parents have to make adjustments and some sacrifices too. To give up my job to take off for Canada for two months and two weeks… Would I do it all again? Yes, absolutely. I will do anything for my son Keivonn and his future and potential. My message to you parents, it’s crucial to support your child. You never know how they may bloom in the future when it comes to their skills and network. Encourage them in whoever they want to be.
——--
[Sponsored video from Convo: www.convorelay.com]
—------
Thank you Keivonn and April for your time. We also learned that CJ Jones was the ASL coach for Keivonn. Keivonn shared with us that overall he really had a good experience acting with other cast members as they connected well with him.
“The Last of Us” will be released on January 15, 2023, on HBO. To see Keivonn as Sam, check out episodes 5 and 6!