Sandra Mae Frank Talks Aspirations as a Deaf Actress in Hollywood

Sandra Mae Frank has a lot to be grateful for as a working deaf actress in Hollywood. Coming up in the industry, she has a unique perspective having a sense if her community is properly represented and utilized to its fullest potential. While promoting her latest sci-fi film Multiverse for Saban Films, I had an opportunity to talk to her about inspirational figures in the industry, inroads Hollywood made and what it can still work on, and her dream role.

Frank, who played Amy, was fortunate enough to co-star with pioneering deaf actress and Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, who played her mother, Deidre in the Multiverse. There were plenty of others she came across she wanted to thank in the industry. “Shoshannah Stern is an actress, a writer, a director, and she’s an ASL consultant, so it means that she translates English into ASL in a creative way; obviously, that applies to the script,” she said. “If I ever saw any acting with any shows with a deaf person, my mom would be like, ‘Hey look! There’s a deaf person!’ I would look right away. When I met her, I just fangirled for a second, and I was like, ‘Yeah, this is cool. Nice to meet you. Poundsies! But I love you.’ C.J. Jones is another, and he’s been involved in a bunch of movies before, and I just love his work. He’s a comedian, wonderful, and he’s brilliant. Deanne Bray is another amazing deaf woman and actress, and I look up to her so much. There are so many deaf actors that I already that I didn’t realize to this day that we’re famous now popping up and getting more profoundly seen.”

Frank explained the pressures deaf actors had to deal with coming up in the industry. “There’s not just one deaf actor anymore,” she said. “There’s so many more, but the point is I have a few role models growing up, but I’m so blessed that they were able to pave the way kind of for us nowadays. We might not have had the opportunities that we have now. I want to give them recognition for all of their hard work that they went through in the industry using sign language. Maybe it wasn’t acceptable on the screen, but they had to, and it was their choice. I just can’t imagine the pressure that they went through to speak perfectly and kind of be level with the hearing person. Back then, if you didn’t speak, you kind of just got fewer opportunities. I don’t speak in my roles, and now I have those opportunities. I’ll never be more grateful to them and many more on those lists, but those are the few I mentioned.”

The actress is excited how far along the community has come pointing to Marvel’s Eternals. “We finally have our first deaf superhero, the deaf superhero played by Lauren Ridloff,” Frank said. “She is absolutely incredible, intelligent, sexy, and smart. She’s just an amazing actor and what you’re seeing in this Marvel movie is that we can do anything. We can fight and not be vulnerable or broken. We are not to be pitied. Those having deaf people in these stories are better because people are able to. It’s not like, ‘Oh, look at me, I’m a deaf person.’ No, we’re deaf actors. It’s natural to bring out our deafness. It’s natural to show it. It shouldn’t be anything to be too concerned about. It’s just showing that we are just like hearing people, and we just speak a different way. That’s really all.”

The biggest problem Frank said Hollywood still needs to work on is actually inclusion creatively than just in front of a camera. “There are already so many deaf writers out there writing amazing stories, great stuff, but the industry hasn’t given them the opportunities to be involved in these kinds of things,” she said. “We have a team of hearing writers that are great, but why not just bring in a deaf writer, at least one for counseling? Put them on staff. Who better to write about deaf people than a deaf writer? We know how to write this kind of stuff without forcing the culture or the characters in something that maybe we could add hearing people never think of. As an actor, I’m always trying to give the ideas and suggestions and like ‘What I would do and giving those options.’ Imagine if a deaf writer on the team already writing this? Oh my gosh! The more things that are capable of happening, the more opportunities. That role could be given to the correct person. I still believe in the process, but it’s just a little tidbit of what people would like to maybe see more often. “

As far as Frank’s dream role, you could say it’s in part inspired by what’s currently on Disney+. “I want more than anything to play a villain,” she said. “I want more than anything. I haven’t had one yet. I want to play like the long archvillain. Perhaps a mix of two different personalities like Loki and Scarlet Witch-kind of villain, I think that would embody me. I can fight, and she can be mischievous and all this other stuff. That is my dream. One role! Just one time!” Multiverse, which also stars Paloma Kwiatkowski, Munro Chambers, and Robert Naylor, is in theaters. It will be on-demand and digital on November 16 and on DVD and Blu-ray on January 11, 2022.