Oscars 2022: ‘CODA’ Gains Momentum as Possible Best Picture Winner; Troy Kotsur will likely be the second deaf actor to win

Troy Kotsur, who took his statue home in the second hour of the 94th Academy Awards, was widely expected to be the first deaf actor to win an Oscar since Marlee Matlin in 1987.

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“It’s amazing to be here on this journey,” Kotsur said in his acceptance speech on Sunday night. “I can’t believe I’m here.”

In his speech, Kotsur thanked the deaf theater companies that supported him as an actor and President Joe Biden, who invited the “CODA” cast to tour the White House last Tuesday.

Presented with the award by “Minari” star Youn Yuh-jung, who took home a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2021, Kotsur was greeted by his peers, who silently signed their applause as he made his way onto the stage.

“CODA,” an acronym for “Children of Deaf Adults,” is also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for writer-director Sian Heder.

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“I feel like I have dust on my back that is finally getting clean. I feel a little lighter,” Kotsur said after his nomination for On The Red Carpet. “This chip is off my shoulder and yes it’s a historic moment. It’s just real, it’s documented. Even after I leave this planet, it will still be documented in the history books. And that’s why it’s really a blessing.”

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The coming-of-age film follows Ruby, the only hearing person in her New England family of four, as she contemplates leaving her ailing fishing business — and her role as an interpreter — to pursue her own dreams at Berklee College of music . The family must figure out how to survive without her.

The family drama won Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and beat out larger competitors including “The Power of the Dog”, “Dune” and “West Side Story” at the Producers Guild Awards. The top PGA honoree has won the top Oscar three of the last four years and 10 of the last 13 years.

The film’s wealthy backer, Apple TV+, has spent big bucks pushing a feel-good underdog indie to the front of the pack. If “CODA” wins, it will be the first time since 1932’s “Grand Hotel” that a film has won Best Picture with fewer than four nominations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.