Interview with young Black Deaf actress from Creed III: Mila Davis-Kent
Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter: The movie “Creed III” was released on March 3rd and it has hit the top of the box office in the U.S. and is making its way around the world. Mila Davis-Kent (10), who is the first young Black Deaf girl actress to be featured in a major film, plays the character of Amara. In the movie, Amara is the Deaf daughter of Adonis and Bianca Creed, two of the main characters played by Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson. We reached out to Mila to share her experiences of being part of this film.
Mila Davis-Kent: I really feel amazing. And I feel really lucky because I’m Black, Deaf, and a girl. Many Black people - well, you see...it’s not often that you see Black actors, let alone Deaf actors. You barely see any Deaf actors. And being a girl on top of all that, too. You put all that together, being Black, Deaf, and a girl, and it’s so rare. You don’t see that often. I feel so lucky. And I was lucky to audition because I almost didn’t. I was like, eh, but then I auditioned anyway and I got the role. I was so lucky!
[Short video clips of Mila in “Creed III”] Credit: MGM
Renca: How did you prepare for your role?
Mila: Well, Amara and I have similar personalities. I could tell that we’re a little bit the same. So that made it a little easier to play her. There were a lot of challenges in this part. Like having to pretend to cry, pretend to be mad, or having to pretend to punch someone. During my alone time, I would think about the scenes or I would draw out things on paper or write notes. I used that time to think and just calm myself so I would not be so overwhelmed and freak out. I used that time to just relax and tell myself that I can do it.
Renca: Throughout the Creed III movie, both of your “parents”, Adonis and Bianca, use ASL with you and they show that they’re inclusive with the family. I know that they did learn ASL on set and off set as well to be able to communicate with you. How did you feel about being able to sign with them?
Mila: It’s just, wow. I’m very appreciative of that. And that all happened because of Jeremy Lee Stone. He was my ASL consultant, really he was the ASL consultant for the whole cast. He helped so much! He would observe ASL use on set and he also helped the director to cut the scenes with sign language at the right time. He would help with changing some of the signs we used to make sure everything was clear. On top of that, he did host ASL classes for everyone to learn ASL to be able to communicate with me and my (real-life Deaf) family. He also made it easier to use ASL on set. He really just helped out so much! I’m so thankful for Jeremy. I’m also thankful for the interpreters too, they were so helpful on set.
Renca: Do you have any final thoughts you want to share with the Deaf community?
Mila: I would say you can do it! You can do it. Again, just try and try hard. Try again and again if you have to. Don’t let mean people try to tear you down or ruin you. They will think you are easy or that you can’t. That might make you feel useless or make you feel it’s not worth it, but no – you can do it. If someone says something to you, just say okay and ignore them. It doesn’t matter if they bully you or whatever, just ignore them. If you try and try, you eventually will make it.
——--
[Sponsored video from Convo: www.convorelay.com]
—------
[Advertisement] CSD Social Venture Fund and Gallaudet University’s Center of Continuing Education have partnered together to offer a self-paced 16-week entrepreneurship certification program in ASL for business owners and entrepreneurs. Participants will learn foundational information they can use to strengthen their operations, make strategic decisions to grow their business, support their employees, protect themselves, and more from Deaf and hard-of-hearing professionals and entrepreneurs. The program is made up of four 4-week courses that can be completed one at a time at your own pace.
For more information: https://bit.ly/3kQPpuT
—----
Renca: Thank you, Mila, for your time. We did ask what her next step was, she says she has a long list of dreams she wants to accomplish, such as being an artist, a chef, a volleyball player, a softball player, etc. She looks forward to accomplishing them all.
I personally have watched Creed III and enjoyed myself. It hits many life themes and shows inclusivity and representation. Creed III is the third part of Creed I and II. It is available to watch now in movie theaters and rated PG-13. Go see Mila on the big screen!