HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lauren Ridloff (; born April 6, 1978) is a
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 ...
American actress known for her roles in the TV series '' The Walking Dead'' and the film '' Eternals''. She gained prominence in 2018 with a lead role in the Broadway revival of '' Children of a Lesser God'', earning her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. Ridloff was born in Chicago, Illinois. She attended
California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...
and later earned a master's degree in education from
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
. She initially worked as a teacher before pursuing acting, and she was also crowned Miss Deaf America. Ridloff's acting career gained momentum when she was hired as an
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 ...
tutor for
Kenny Leon Kenny Leon is an American director and actor. He is notable for his extensive work on Broadway and television as well as in regional theater. He has received a Tony Award and a Drama League Award as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy ...
, the director of ''Children of a Lesser God'', and subsequently cast in the lead role. She then joined the ninth season of ''The Walking Dead'', and she was also cast as the first deaf superhero in 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 film ''Eternals''. In addition to acting, Ridloff has received various accolades and is actively involved in projects that expand representation in the entertainment industry.


Early life and education

Lauren Teruel was born on April 6, 1978, in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, in the United States. She was born deaf to hearing parents, a Mexican-American father and an African-American mother. Her father Hugo was a counselor at
University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
. He was also a musician, and Ridloff's mother was an artist. Ridloff grew up in the Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. Her parents thought their infant had a developmental delay, but by the time she was two years old, they learned that she was deaf. They learned sign language with her and enrolled her in Catholic school with hearing children. She performed well in school. When she was 13 years old, she stopped using her voice so people would stop judging her intelligence based on her vocal intelligibility. Following Catholic school, she attended the
Model Secondary School for the Deaf The Model Secondary School (MSSD) is a residential four-year high school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students located on the Gallaudet University campus in Washington, D.C. History Prior to 1970, Kendall School for the Deaf served students fr ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, where she was among deaf and hard-of-hearing peers. She began exploring the arts, starting with ceramics and becoming involved with drama. In a school production of ''
The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...
'', she played
Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Dorothy'' (TV series), 1979 American TV series * Dorothy Mills, a 2008 French movie, sometimes titled simply ''Dorot ...
. She was also on the cheerleading team and became one of the first deaf American cheerleaders to compete internationally. Ridloff chose to attend
California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...
, a university with a large deaf and hard-of-hearing student population, because of its
National Center on Deafness The National Center on Deafness is an American educational institution aimed at facilitating the education of deaf students. The facilities of the National Center on Deafness are located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, Lo ...
. She majored in English with an emphasis in creative writing, completing her degree in 2001. While in college, she joined a local deaf performing group and took up hip-hop dancing. After she graduated in May 2000, she began working at the NCOD, where she was involved in a program to improve post-secondary school education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Later in the year, she decided to compete in the National Association of the Deaf's Miss Deaf America competition, having been inspired by the competition she saw two years prior. She won the preliminary competition of Miss Deaf Illinois and ultimately won Miss Deaf America. She was the second consecutive CSUN graduate to win the crown, and she was also the first competitor of either African-American or Mexican-American descent to win the pageant. Her activities in competition included an ASL performance of the book ''
The Giving Tree ''The Giving Tree'' is an American Children's literature, children's picture book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. First published in 1964 by Harper & Row, it has become one of Silverstein's best-known titles, and has been translate ...
'' by
Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...
. After winning Miss Deaf America, she began a two-year stint of attending luncheons and graduation ceremonies as a spokesperson for NAD. After graduating from CSUN, Ridloff went to
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
in New York to study education with the goal of becoming a children's author. After earning her master's degree in education in 2005, She started teaching kindergarten and first grade at Public School 347 in Manhattan. She was also involved with deaf community theater and film work for friends. She married Douglas Ridloff, whom she met at CSUN, in 2006, and they have two children, both boys and both deaf. After nine years of teaching, she left her teaching job to take care of the boys. The family lived in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...
, a neighborhood of New York, until they moved to
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, in 2022.


Acting career


Lead-up to ''Children of a Lesser God''

Ridloff played a small role as a superpowered agent in the 2017 film '' Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes''. She also joined the production of the 2017 film '' Wonderstruck'' as a consultant and was ultimately cast in a small role. She also appeared in the
lyric video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of m ...
for the song " Love Me Now" by
John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...
. When director
Kenny Leon Kenny Leon is an American director and actor. He is notable for his extensive work on Broadway and television as well as in regional theater. He has received a Tony Award and a Drama League Award as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy ...
began producing a revival of the 1980 play '' Children of a Lesser God'', he hired Ridloff to tutor him in
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 ...
. Leon cast
Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is an American and Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayals of Pacey Witter on The WB's teen drama ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fic ...
as the male lead but had not cast the female lead role. By then, Ridloff had been tutoring Leon for over a year. He asked her to substitute at a
read-through The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading of the screenplay or script is conducted around a table by the actors with speaking parts. In addition to the ...
early on, and based on her performance, he offered her the role as Sarah Norman. The cast had an initial run at the Berkshire Theatre Group in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridg ...
. One of the most challenging aspects of her role was using her voice, which she had not used since she was 13 years old. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote, "Ms. Ridloff compares the experience of using her voice during the play to a crotch shot, saying that at first she felt exposed, and vulnerable, and ugly." After a year with the role and with a vocal coach, she found greater ease. She explained, "It feels empowering to me—like finally I own every part of myself, utI don't see myself ever using my voice on a conversational level—that's just not who I am." The revival premiered on Broadway in April 2018, and ''The New York Times'' wrote, "Critics were underwhelmed by the production, but mesmerized by Ms. Ridloff." The revival was shuttered on May 27, 2018.


''The Walking Dead'', ''Eternals'', and beyond

Ridloff was a fan of the TV series '' The Walking Dead'', which had premiered in 2010, and submitted an audition tape to be cast in the series. She was cast as Connie and started her role in the show's ninth season, which premiered in October 2018. In July 2019, Ridloff was cast in the 2021
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 ...
superhero film '' Eternals'' as the superhero Makkari, who in the comics is a hearing and white man. As part of director
Chloé Zhao Chloé Zhao (born Zhao Ting; 31 March 1982) is a Chinese-born filmmaker. She is known primarily for her work on independent films. Zhao is the second of three women to win the Academy Award for Best Director for her film Nomadland. '' Songs ...
's approach to broaden casting representation, the casting of Ridloff revises the character to be a deaf woman of color. The casting makes Ridloff the first deaf superhero in the MCU. To film for ''Eternals'', Ridloff took a leave of absence from ''The Walking Dead'', not appearing in six consecutive episodes of the show's tenth season. Her role in ''Eternals'' led to an increase in web searches for American Sign Language courses. Following Ridloff's appearance in ''Eternals'' in 2021, she re-partnered with Joshua Jackson from ''Children of a Lesser God'' to star together in a romantic drama TV series being developed by
Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, NAACP Image Awards, a British Academy Film Awards, ...
at the TV network
Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...
. The network gave a three-season commitment to the planned series in May 2022. Ridloff was also attached as executive producer along with DuVernay and Jackson. In September 2023, Starz said that the drama series, which had started filming, would not be proceeding, following DuVernay's decision to depart after her contract with Warner Bros. TV concluded and amidst several series changes at the network. In July 2022, Ridloff was one of three deaf actors cast in an episode of the
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
anthology drama TV series '' Accused'', with the episode being directed by
Marlee Matlin Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...
, and the episode aired in January 2023.


Recognition and advocacy

In 2020, Ridloff received the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award at the 41st Media Access Awards. In the same year, the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
selected Ridloff as a 2020 Breakthrough performer along with 33 other talents in film, television, and games. In March 2023, the
New York Women in Film & Television New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is a non-profit membership organization for women in film, television, and digital media. The organization is an educational forum for media professionals and a network for the exchange of information a ...
at their Muse Awards honored Ridloff along with several women in the industry. In December, Ridloff delivered a lecture about inclusion and representation as part of the
Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth, and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education and is a state-designated rese ...
President’s Distinguished Lecture Series.


Credits


Accolades


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridloff, Lauren Actresses from Chicago American deaf actresses American actresses of Mexican descent American stage actresses 21st-century American actresses Living people 1978 births American television actresses American film actresses California State University, Northridge alumni Hunter College alumni American deaf people American actors with disabilities 21st-century African-American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses Theatre World Award winners Hispanic and Latino American actresses Deaf beauty pageant contestants