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Keivonn Woodard

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Keivonn Woodard

As a movie critic with over three decades of experience under my belt, I must say that Keivonn Woodard‘s performance as Sam Burrell in HBO’s “The Last of Us” is nothing short of remarkable. In an industry where representation often falls flat, this young actor has managed to break through the barriers and shine brightly.

In the fourth installment of HBO’s post-apocalyptic series “The Last of Us“, when Keivonn Woodard debuted as Sam Burrell, he was brandishing a firearm and signaled for silence by placing one finger to his lips. This brief moment in the 2023 premiere season sparked a week’s worth of excitement among viewers as they eagerly waited to see more of Sam, a 8-year-old character who, like Keivonn, is deaf and navigates through the show’s zombie outbreak.

Keivonn, who is now 11 years old, shared with TIME using an ASL interpreter that he had received numerous encouraging remarks. It seems the public was quite eager for his next appearance on the show.

Titled “Persevere and Make It Through,” this installment featured Sam, played by Lamar Johnson’s older brother (Henry), joining forces with series leads Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Their goal? To flee a dangerous quarantine zone. This episode turned out to be the most popular of the season on IMDb, solidifying Keivonn as one of the show’s breakout stars who happens to be Deaf. “People kept telling me how moved they were by my acting,” he shares. “They couldn’t believe a Deaf actor was actually playing the role.”

Before taking on the role of Sam in “The Last of Us,” Keivonn had limited professional acting experience under his belt. However, the tremendous praise he received for his performance didn’t catch series co-creator Craig Mazin off guard. As Mazin puts it, “During the airing of my shows, there are moments when I find myself questioning, ‘How will this turn out?’ I get nervous. But then there are instances where I think, ‘I have something extraordinary that not everyone knows about.’ That Sunday night, I simply sat back and thought, ‘People are going to be amazed by this kid. They’re going to go crazy.'”

In the TV adaptation of The Last of Us, making Sam deaf differed from the game’s storyline. This change, as stated by Mazin, stemmed from a wish to enhance on-screen disability representation. He mentioned that Hollywood has fallen short in various areas of representation, and disability is one where they’ve faced significant challenges.

However, locating an 8-to-12-year-old Black Deaf child actor proficient in either American Sign Language or Black American Sign Language wasn’t a straightforward task. Fortunately, when April Jackson-Woodard submitted Keivonn’s audition tape after responding to a casting call on X, it was evident he was the perfect choice. “I doubt I’ll ever have such good fortune again,” Mazin remarks.

Last summer, Keivonn was taken aback when he found out that he had been nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category for his acting. This made him the youngest actor ever to be recognized in this particular category, and the first Black Deaf actor to secure a nomination in the Television Academy’s history. Upon seeing his name and face on the screen, he exclaimed, “Wow!”

Next up, Keivonn will feature in Anslem Richardson’s short film titled “Fractal” and also star in Stephen Ashley Blake’s debut movie, “Steal Away”. These roles are significant steps for him to increase representation of Deaf individuals. As he puts it, “Many people in TV and film are hearing, so you mostly see them speaking. But when I see Deaf people using sign language, I can understand their dialogue. Portraying Deaf characters authentically, played by Deaf actors, is both authentic and incredibly important.”

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2024-08-16 16:24

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