You must be delighted with the response all the awards ... Apple paying a few pennies for it to go
on Apple streaming and the response you've had... you must be so so happy with what people had to
say about the film so far?
Yes absolutely I we didn't expect this to happen. We knew... I mean we could see it was a good film right like we knew it was a good movie for sure, um and we knew
that people you know would watch it and enjoy it but the response has just been amazing ever since
Sundance has been so overwhelming and we're just so thrilled and happy. I mean all of us in the cast
were shocked and we were celebrating together just so thrilled and excited an d can't wait to
see uh how far we can take CODA very excited for that.
Yes, we are very excited as well for people to see. I think it just played in London actually so I think it went very very well there.
Oh wow that's great that's excellent i'm so happy to hear that.
So for you when you read the script for the first time what was it about this approach and this story
and working with Sian [Heder, director] as a filmmaker that made you want to get involved and want to tell this story
Well it's not often that I see a script like this one that has such a great clear story
that involves a deaf family the circumstances of their family life and also my character uh, Leo
from the film um you know after Sian explained to me about his character what he's all about gave me
the vision I just felt like he was a perfect fit for me I felt like he's a strong deaf character
I'm a strong deaf man, you know, he's a fisherman likes to be on the ocean you know looking towards
the welfare of the family business I mean it just was a great character
I was really excited to get into that and I'm so glad that I did it's been a wonderful journey
and it's been a very fun experience.
Tell me a little bit about working with with your on-screen family because the dynamics are fantastic and there seems to be
in the script and in the story and in the family such a great celebration of the deaf community and
the deaf experience but also just as a you know a loving family who would do anything for each other
Oh absolutely absolutely. On screen they're very connected family they love each other uh before we
started filming I had already known uh two of the cast - Troy [Kotsur], who is Frank the father and Marlee
Matlin who plays the mother of course um you know I knew them beforehand we had worked together
and I knew that i was going to be in this film. I was so thrilled. When I got the part I was
texting him and celebrating that I was going to be in there with him um so when we got there a couple
weeks before we started filming doing rehearsals we started growing the chemistry as a family
uh you know Marlee uh would always come... you know act as a mom - 'Hey do you have water? Do
you need a sweater or something?' She just kind of got into the mom role with us and as far as troy
i was roommates with him in the house we shared during filming and we started growing the
father-son dynamic just kind of chatting, you know, we go down to the town in Gloucester uh it's
a really small town, and when we got there people would notice us right away they knew we
were newcomers to the town so they would welcome us and that was a good experience as well but
all of those things contributed to us you know building the chemistry and then after the movie
is done uh we still feel that same chemistry that connection uh that love for each other still there.
It's not often as an actor that you get to pick up uh new skills but on this one
obviously you get to go fishing and be a fisherman i just wonder what that experience was like going
out on the boats and and doing all that stuff for real because from what I've read you guys were
kind of in in the trenches doing all the all the stuff yourself with some with some special people...
Oh absolutely we did yes, um you know, when I was growing up I would do a little bit
of fishing you know I'd go to like a lake or you know just something small you know just as
a kid you do that for fun right? But on the filming of CODA we were out in the ocean
out in the deep salt water and learning uh with these actual fishermen what their tools were,
how their boats were set up, how the nets worked, they were teaching us the dangers
of being on the boat you know don't fall over they said you can fall over - don't do that!
So I just really enjoyed getting together with them and learning that you know learning by doing
uh these five guys took us on their actual real boat and they taught us which fish are
the good ones which fish do you want to send back and then you know how do you separate them out
there'd be like some squid that come up and I'm like - 'Yeah we don't want the squid get rid of the
squid...' and then you - if this is the net 'Get out yeah get out here squid!'uh and some of the good
ones we keep and then you know which ones were profitable to sell back at market, it was
great and we were out there all day you know just going out there with those guys
and then at the end of the day we'd come back Troy and I and Emilia [Jones] and when you get back to
land it still felt like you're in the ocean like, the feeling of being on the waves carried with
you when you got back it was such an interesting experience.
And just finally I just wanted to ask you about Emilia.
she's so wonderful in the film and your character is very protective of her you know the older brother...
I just wondered what that relationship was like and how much you got on... You seem to get on very very well with with her?
Oh yeah, oh yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean, before we started filming again, I remember um you
know like I said, I knew Troy and Marlee already, but Emilia was the new wild card and I was very
curious to meet her. She showed up, she was friendly, she was warm, smiling, very open, and she was just
really motivated to learn about deafness and about deaf culture, Marlee would often host dinners at
her house, she's a great cook and so we would come over to her house during filming, Troy and I and
Emilia would come over, and we'd just be chatting and joking and that's where Emilia really started
to immerse herself in the deaf culture. She was very curious about ASL jokes uh our stories our
you know getting along, how we share information - she was laughing and just enjoying it the whole
time. It was great and that's I feel like where she really started to get into the role
of Ruby and I applaud her so much. I mean, she did so much work and it's so amazing the work she did.
She's so skilled, you know, she had to change from a British to an American accent and maybe even a
Boston accent on top of that... She had learned about fishing, she had to actually do the singing and she
had to do the signing. I mean, that was like four or five skills for her. She's so amazing and so
professional - consummate. Nothing but respect for her.
Absolutely. Daniel, thank you so much for your time, absolutely pleasure talking to you and I hope the film goes really well for you
All right - great. Thank you, thank you