Troy Kotsur

"So imagine sitting in the theater not being able to hear anything. But the visuals of this film were amazing. I saw the lights moving back and forth from their guns, the battleships. I went back to the theater and saw it 28 times and that was the first film that inspired me. I was fascinated by the fantasy and all of the characters and that really sparked my interest in film and led me here to this day."

―Troy Kotsur, describing his childhood experience viewing Star Wars^[2]

Troy Kotsur is a deaf American actor^[1] who created Tusken Sign Language for the Disney+ live-action TV series Star Wars: The Mandalorian and later Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett.

He played a Tusken Raider in the fifth episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian.^[3] He was initially hired just to develop the language. They did not know he was also an actor, and he did not tell them because it would seem like brown-nosing. Upon learning from his manager that Kotsur was an actor as well, they cast him as the lead Tusken Raider.^[4]

In 2022, Kotsur won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Frank Rossi in the film CODA.^[1]

Filmography

Year	Title	Series	Contribution(s)
2019	"Chapter 5: The Gunslinger"	Star Wars: The Mandalorian	Tusken Raider^[3]
2021	"Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land"	Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett	Created Tusken Sign Language^[5]