(audience cheering)
- So Emilia, the term CODA stands for child of deaf adults.
Did you speak to children of deaf adults
to kinda get that experience?
- I did.
I spoke to a lot in the prep time
and Selma, my teacher, he introduced me to some.
I also was finding some on Instagram
and I started talking to them like that.
And then we set up FaceTimes.
And I just, I knew that I was representing a community
that I didn't belong to
and so I wanted to kind of respect that.
And yeah,
I wanted to find out people's different experiences.
And although they were all very similar
they were also quite unique
and all of our interpreters on set were coders,
some of them here today.
And so it just meant that I had so much support
and so many people that I could fall to
if I needed help or talk to or ask questions.
- Absolutely.
It's important that you did the research.
I love that because you knew there was a weight of gravity
to the situation that you wanted to not only support,
but uplift this community that has,
like as you said, for lack of a better term,
gone on deaf ears for a lot of people.
People don't notice or realize or think about.
So it was really important that you dove in like that.
So a big theme of the movie is
how music impacts everyone regardless of ability.
And one of the guiding forces for music
in the film was the choir teacher
who is also here with us today.
Everybody please welcome the very talented, Eugenio Derbez.
(audience cheering) (upbeat music)
(upbeat music crowds out Interviewer)
Oh my gosh.
So were you very musical before working in this film?
Because I gotta tell you what,
what was also another layer of selfishly watching the movie,
is a choir director changed my life,
changed the trajectory of my life.
A very poor kid, had no outlook
for anything promising happening and really singing.
And that being my passion, changed my life.
And your character in this movie changes hers.
And so did you have any experience in that,
and are you just that amazing of an actor?
Cause I'm like, goodness, it was so...
- He is, he is.
- Cause your wife is musical.
Your wife is musical.
Yeah.
- Yeah.
No, but yeah, I'm just amazing.
(everyone laughing) (audience cheering)
No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
No, I had...
(laughing)
I'm kidding.
Oh well, I'm...
- Well, you were playing beautifully.
Your pianos, everything was beautiful.
- When I was a kid, I used to play some piano but that's it.
- When I was a kid, I played piano and I suck now.
So you are, yeah, so talented.
- I really, I was 24/7...
I remember I was touring, promoting another film
and I was asking production,
"Please, I wanna stay in a hotel...
"It doesn't matter if it's two stars
"but I need a piano because I need to practice."
- Absolutely.
- So I was staying just in hotels
where I can play the piano.
And then people were asking me, "Can you play this one?"
I was, "No, I'm not the piano player,
"I'm just rehearsing here."
(audience and Interviewer laughing)
And they were asking for if you're playing songs for them.
It was crazy.
- It was just so well done.
I love what your character represented,
and especially in Emilia's character's life,
it was so pivotal getting in that choir.
And she did it for a guy, which is so awesome.
But just to be like, "Oh, you're in there?
"Okay, me too."
And then it changes your life.
It was really cool.
So for Daniel and Marlee, how would you explain
how you feel or experience music?
- I mean, I have music in me.
Billy Joel is somebody that I consider my...
I'm his number one fan.
And I learn to 'hear his music'
and I sing it only by myself in the car.
(Interviewer laughing)
And it's true.
And I love it.
And we've worked together several times
at the Super Bowl, on Sesame Street.
And I even signed his songs in front of him
which was a dream come true.
It was one of my bucket list items.
And I love this guy.
I love this guy.
(audience clapping)
- [Interviewer] That's inspiring.
- And not all deaf people don't listen to music.
Some of us do listen to music.
So I happen to be a person who can hear some music.
I have hearing aids and I love it
as much as anybody else does,
but it's just in a different way.
- Mm-hmm.
What about you Daniel?
- So I'm fully deaf.
I can't hear anything at all,
but I love feeling the vibration through my body.
I really enjoy it.
And that's how I learned to listen to music.
When I was younger,
I would travel around through different states
because I was in a club soccer team.
So I'm used to going on long car rides with my mother.
And sometimes I'd ask my mom, "Can you turn it up
"so I can feel little bass?"
And my mom was like, "Yeah."
But we struggled to hear it.
So my mom went ahead and bought a new sound system
and I loved it.
You could feel the base.
It was so strong.
The windows were shaking.
It felt so good.
(audience and Interviewer laughing)
So one day we stopped by the store.
I didn't care about the store
so I stayed in the car and my mother went into the store.
And I sat there and I was bored.
And I thought, "Oh yeah, we have the new system."
I turned it on and I turned it all the way up.
And I loved it.
I could feel the car shaking, I was having so much fun.
I was dancing.
(everyone laughing)
One car drove by, and there's a stranger, a man.
And he rolled down his window and he looked at me.
And I was just imagining, he must be like,
"Wow, you have such a nice system.
"You must be playing a great song.
And I was like, "Yeah."
And I started dancing to him.
And another person pulled up.
It was a woman, same thing.
I pointed at her and just kept dancing.
And I was like, "I wonder what this song is."
And when my mother came out of the store
she started laughing.
She came and sat next to me
and I was like, "what am I listening to?"
"You're listening to NPR Talk Radio."
(everyone laughing) (audience clapping)