The Walking Dead star Lauren Ridloff reflects on current state of disability representation in the entertainment industry. Ridloff, who is Deaf, got her breakout role in The Walking Dead, being cast as Connie in season 9 after she submitted an audition tape. She is also known for playing Makkari, an Eternal who can move faster than the speed of sound, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Eternals movie. Her character in the film is the first superhero who is deaf in the MCU franchise.

2021 was a noticeably good year for disability representation in Hollywood, particularly among the Deaf community. A Quiet Place Part II star Millicent Simmonds earned rave reviews, Ridloff became the MCU's first Deaf superhero in Eternals, and CODA - a film that highlights the Deaf community with its story about a teenager who is the only hearing member of her family - won a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. CODA then carried that good will into 2022 by taking home Best Picture at the Oscars, and ensuring that representation was a major topic of conversation throughout awards season.

Related: CODA's Best Picture Oscar Win Is A Bigger Deal Than You Realize

Recently, Ridloff was a part of the Inevitable Foundation panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, a panel of creators with disabilities, where she and the other panelists discussed topics such as industry challenges, what it means to be disabled in Hollywood in 2022, and how to move forward together towards a better future. In a post-panel interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Ridloff reflects on the current state of disability representation in the entertainment business, and her hopes for it for the future. She remarks that she feels hopeful of the current state, noting there's momentum in disability representation, but she hopes that it continues and speeds up a bit. Read Ridloff's full quote below:

Yeah, I feel hopeful. And I think that there's momentum and I just hope it continues. But I want to say that when I was 8, Children of Lesser God came out [in 1986] and Marlee Matlin won her Oscar. And now my son is 8. That’s when the next deaf person won an Oscar, Troy Kotsur [in CODA]. Yeah. That's a long time in between. So yes, there is momentum. It just needs to speed up a little bit. I do know in the last couple years there's been an increase in representation and deaf actors are much more visible and I'm thrilled about that. But what I'm noticing now is [the need to see] a larger number of creatives involved off-screen, behind the camera. And I think that is just as important. We have Josh Feldman. We have my husband Douglas Ridloff, who is currently working as a consulting producer for Echo. We need more. And I see that that's where we're going, and I think that's wonderful.

Makkari in Eternals

Ridloff's points ring true. While there have been momentous wins for the disabled community recently, they're a long time coming. In addition to the gap example she gives, Ridloff herself was the first deaf superhero in the MCU, but this superlative didn't come to fruition until 2021 - over a decade after the MCU began in 2008. However, as she also says, there is momentum. Shortly after Eternals was released in November 2021, the MCU series Hawkeye featured Alaqua Cox, who is Deaf and also an amputee, as Maya Lopez a.k.a. Echo, leader of the Track Suit Mafia. Her disabilities are a part of her character's identity and she even encourages Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), who now experiences hearing loss, to embrace it.

Coincidentally, because of Ridloff's and Cox's roles in their respective projects, Eternals and Hawkeye were awarded the Seal of Authentic Representation by the Ruderman Family Foundation, an organization that advocates for the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout society, proving the importance of proper disability representation in media. And now, Cox is set to reprise her role as Maya in an upcoming Echo Disney+ series. Opportunities, conversations, and recognition are important, not only in that they give a platform to those in the disabled community, but also uplift the profile of disability as a necessity in regards to diversity, pushing those in power to initiate positive change. While there is still much work to be done, The Walking Dead star is right to say that the momentous progress in regards to disability representation has been promising as of late, pointing towards a more just and inclusive future.

Next: One Eternals Theory Makes Makkari's Powers Even Better

Source: Yahoo! Entertainment