Troy Kotsur

Fans are discovering that recent Oscar winner Troy Kotsur is behind a fan-favorite aspect of the Star Wars universe.

And, at the center of it all is the sign language Kotsur helped create. According to Kotsur, his goal while developing the Tusken sign language was to avoid ASL. As the actor puts it, each sign language reflects the needs and environment of its users, so it was only natural to come up with a completely new system that would underline Tusken culture. In episode five of the first season, the titular Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) goes to the desert planet Tatooine and has to ask the Sand People for safe passage.

LOS ANGELES — Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Oscar, taking the Academy Award on Sunday (March 27) for best supporting actor for his role as ...

This is our moment!" LOS ANGELES — Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Oscar, taking the Academy Award on Sunday (March 27) for best supporting actor for his role as a fisherman and father in family drama "CODA." LOS ANGELES — Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Oscar, taking the Academy Award on Sunday (March 27) for best supporting actor for his role as a fisherman and father in family drama "CODA."

CODA star, Oscar winner, and The Mandalorian alum Troy Kotsur helped developed the unique sign language used by Star Wars' Tusken Raiders.

Lucasfilm hired Troy Kotsur to work on the sign language used by the Tusken Raiders. It’s singular to them thanks to Kotsur. His goal “was to avoid ASL” when developing their language. To do that he “made sure it became Tusken Sign Language based on their culture and environment.” That included creating a sign that means “Mandalorian.” Kotsur based that on the signature look of Mandalorian helmets and the “M” handshape. And a big part of that change started when we saw them communicating with Din Djarin. He wanted to be part of Star Wars since he was eight years old. She took home a golden statue in 1987.) Safe to say it was the biggest moment of his career in this galaxy. But it wasn’t his biggest moment in the galaxy far, far away.

Arizona native Troy Kotsur is still riding high after winning the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in "CODA" on Sunday.

Three historic Academy Awards for "CODA" becoming the first film with a predominantly Deaf cast to win Best Picture. Troy Kotsur is the first Deaf male ...

Kotsur finished his emotional speech dedicating his win to the Deaf, CODA and disabled community, declaring, “This is our moment!” Kotsur finished his emotional speech dedicating his win to the Deaf, CODA and disabled community, declaring, “This is our moment!” It will be an incredible feature for anyone who wants to tune in and pull up that feed and watch the show with our interpreters.” We join our teams all over the world in celebrating Siân, Troy, the producers, and the entire cast and crew for bringing such a powerful representation of the Deaf community to audiences, and breaking so many barriers in the process. We’ve been working really closely with that team in identifying a number of deaf and hearing interpreters to support the show, but also walking through and working with us on the design of the stage and thinking through everything from the communications and how we’re promoting certain services. we’re proud of what we’ve done, but it’s not nearly enough and we are committed to continuing to do as much as we can in this journey.”

Kotsur took home the Best Supporting Actor prize for his role in CODA, and became the first Deaf man to win an Academy Award for acting.

But he was in a car accident, and he became paralyzed from the neck down, and he no longer was able to sign. Instead, I really want to thank all of the wonderful Deaf theater stages where I was allowed and given the opportunity to develop my craft as an actor. It’s really amazing that our film CODA has reached out worldwide; it even reached all the way to the White House. And they invited the cast of CODA to visit and have a tour of the White House. We met our president, Joe, and Dr. Jill, and I was planning on teaching them some dirty sign language, but Marlee Matlin told me to behave myself. Thank you so much to all the members of the Academy for recognizing my work. His pre-CODA career was limited to television guests spots and the occasional indie. She holds the honor of being the first Deaf actor to win an Oscar, for Children of a Lesser God. Kotsur has said in interviews that watching her performance in that film gave him the confidence to become a professional actor.