Alaqua Cox (born February 13, 1997) is a Native American (

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

) actress. She landed her breakthrough roleher first ever acting experienceas Maya Lopez / Echo within the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series '' Hawkeye'' (2021), continuing as the protagonist in the spin-off series ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

'' (2024).

Early life

Cox was born

Deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

. She was born and raised in the

Menominee Indian Reservation The Menominee Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in northeastern Wisconsin held in trust by the United States for the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin. It is the largest Indian reservation east of the Mississippi River. In the Menomi ...

Keshena, Wisconsin Keshena () is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Menominee County, Wisconsin, United States. Located on the Menominee Indian Reservation, it had a population of 1,257 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Keshena ...

, and is of the

and

Mohican The Mohicans ( or ) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, whose indigenous territory was ...

nation. She attended the Wisconsin School for the Deaf, where she played on the girls' basketball team from 2014 to 2015 and on the volleyball team. Part of Cox's right leg is amputated. She uses a

prosthesis In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...

Career

On December 2, 2020, in her acting debut, she was cast in ''Hawkeye'' as

. The news drew applause from deaf activist

Nyle DiMarco Nyle DiMarco (born May 8, 1989) is an American model, actor, and Deaf culture, Deaf activist. In 2015, DiMarco was the winner of The CW's reality television series ''America's Next Top Model'' in America's Next Top Model (cycle 22), season 22, be ...

. In June 2021, Echo co-creator

David W. Mack David W. Mack is an American comic book artist and writer, known for his creator-owned series ''Kabuki (David W. Mack comic), Kabuki'' and for co-creating with Joe Quesada the Marvel Comics superhero Echo (Marvel Comics), Echo. Early life Mack ...

reacted to the news of the ''Echo'' television series by expressing gratitude to Cox for being a representative for deaf and indigenous youth: "I taught at the School for the Deaf in Africa, Asia, ndEurope, in my work for the U.S. State Department, ndthe students love Echo ndwill be happy about this." At Marvel's ''Hawkeye'' premiere, Cox told a reporter from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. "I don't know why they're giving me this opportunity, but I'm just grateful. I'm excited for the support and being able to advocate for the deaf community. We want to have that equality and get more people involved. I'm just so grateful for all of the opportunities I've been given." Cox told Disney's '' D23'' magazine that

Jeremy Renner Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as ''Dahmer (film), Dahmer'' (2002) and ''Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as ''S.W.A.T. (20 ...

and

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She had her breakthrough with the western film ''True Grit (2010 film), True Grit'' (2010), which earned her List of awards and nominations received by H ...

both worked to learn some

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

so that they could communicate more easily with her. "I thought it was sweet of them putting in efforts to learn basic ASL to communicate with me. It means a lot to me as a deaf person." Cox went on to star as the character in the miniseries ''

'' (2024).

Personal life

Cox's father died in November 2021. Her maternal cousin, Darnell Besaw, played the child version of Cox's character in both '' Hawkeye'' (2021) and ''

'' (2024). On Mother's Day 2023, Cox announced that she was expecting a baby boy named Mukwa with her fiancé. Her son was born that October. In November 2024, Cox announced that she was expecting a second baby boy. Her fiancé is also deaf, and their first son Mukwa is hearing.

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Alaqua 21st-century American actresses 21st-century Native American women American amputees American deaf actresses Amputee actors American actors with disabilities Living people Native American actresses Native American people from Wisconsin People from Menominee County, Wisconsin Menominee people Mohican people 1997 births American television actresses