“Sound of Metal” roles stolen from deaf actors?

The Amazon film “Sound of Metal,” is receiving buzz for Oscars awards in music and acting. Its two main actors, both hearing men portraying deaf characters, may be nominated for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards.

The film is about a hearing drummer named Ruben, portrayed by Riz Ahmed, who suddenly loses his hearing, sees his bus-touring life unravel, and ends up in a rural compound of signing deaf people led by a late-deafened veteran named Joe, portrayed by Paul Raci, who sim-coms. Ruben gets a bit of deaf culture and sign language in him but is kicked out after he undergoes a cochlear implant surgery.

[Brief video clip from “Sound of Metal” trailer]

Raci is a Coda, an ASL interpreter, and served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War as a hospital corpsman. Ahmed learned how to sign for the role of Ruben.

The film has received positive comments for its large ensemble of authentic deaf characters casting deaf roles, but it has received criticism for casting hearing actors in deaf roles.

Two weeks ago the NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum said in an open letter signed by 19 organizations that the two deaf roles were stolen and that the acting was false. He said other deaf actors auditioned for the role of Joe but did not get it.

Howard Rosenblum: “Another deaf person auditioned for the same role. The director decided to cast a hearing and able-bodied actor for this deaf role. If Paul Raci didn’t audition, a deaf person would’ve gotten the role! This is wrong.”

According to conversations with those familiar with the situation, Paul Raci’s wife, Liz Hanley Raci, was an agent for several deaf actors at the time the casting call for “Sound of Metal” came out — in the spring of 2018.

Through a source, I was able to view two audition calls for Joe’s role in “Sound of Metal.”

The first one went out in the spring of 2018. In it, you can see in clear, all-caps words, “PLEASE, DO NOT SUBMIT YOURSELF UNLESS YOU ARE DEAF… LOOKING FOR DEAF ACTORS ONLY. MUST BE FLUENT IN ASL. DO NOT WASTE OUR TIME. PLEASE.”

This was the first one. The role of Joe was described as an alcoholic who lost his hearing while fighting in the first Gulf War. “50 to 70 years old, all ethnicities male.”

A second audition call for the role of Joe was sent out about two weeks later. It said “SEEKING PERFORMERS FLUENT IN ASL… We strongly encourage actors who are DEAF to apply for this opportunity.”

It was different in its wording that it didn’t require deaf actors but only strongly encouraged it.

An article in the “Los Angeles Times” from February 23 explicitly mentions that the director Darius Marder “widened his casting search from initially deaf-only actors to CODAs…”

Some deaf actors decided to cut ties with the Racis after they found out he was in the film because they felt it was disrespectful.

[SPONSORED VIDEO FROM CONVO]

I was able to talk with several people familiar with the situation.

Some felt like the Racis worked hard to convince the director that a Coda actor for this deaf role is “okay.” Others said it was simply a special relationship between the director and Paul Raci and that he fit the role very well, especially because he is a veteran.

I read and watched an interview Raci did with “Variety.” Raci explained that it was “complicated” how he got the role, but he said he met the director at a CODA convention in the New England area. He said he and his agent, who he didn’t name as his wife, begged them to look at his audition clips.

Variety: So you made the audition tape and you had one meeting with him, or series of meetings?

Paul Raci: I made the audition tape, sent it out and, you know, my agent called to see if they’d looked at the tape. And the answer was, you know what, we’ve got so many tapes and we’re just being inundated. And I know a lot of actors that didn’t know any sign language who had submitted tapes.

Variety: Yeah.

Paul Raci: But they told my agent that they’re probably gonna go with a name, so thank you very much. And my agent just said, please, you’ve gotta look at this tape, and she did her spiel on the phone, hung up, five minutes later, the casting director called and said, we saw the tape, Darius wants to talk to you right now. So…

Variety: I mean, seriously, that’s an impressive story

I reached out to Paul Raci and the director for comment about casting concerns via email, but did not receive a response.

I was able to briefly talk with Liz Raci on Facebook. She said Paul is a “Coda, his Deaf father was a member of NAD and founder of Chicago Club of the Deaf.” I asked what she thought of the NAD’s open letter, but she did not respond to the question, instead asking me what I personally thought of it.

One person who has worked with Raci in the past said they hope he will think of how to give back to the community because he owes so much to it. Another person said we shouldn’t be quick to target Raci just because he is more familiar to the deaf community, and that if we are to criticize him, we should also equally criticize Riz Ahmed and those behind the movie. A third person said Raci should have turned down the opportunities to show empathy for deaf actors’ struggle.

I close this story with several questions for you all — did Paul Raci or Riz Ahmed steal the roles from deaf actors by accepting these roles? Is it okay if a Coda plays a deaf role? Can we put this aside to celebrate the many smaller deaf roles in this film?

*Correction: Howard Rosenblum is the NAD’s CEo

https://www.nad.org/2021/02/28/nad-asks-academy-to-stop-rewarding-miscasting/

https://variety.com/video/sound-of-metal-paul-raci-deaf-parents/

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2021-02-23/paul-raci-sound-of-metal-darius-marder

https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/2/22/22291545/paul-raci-deaf-sound-metal-ableism-chicago-humboldt-park-hands-doom-black-sabbath-riz-ahme

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/michael-phillips/ct-ent-paul-raci-sound-of-metal-1204-20201201-25oqljanvjg6lc5jvwiem6x2zu-story.html