Brian Tyree Henry, Troy Kotsur ‘Causeway’ Talk – Watch

Oscar voting ends next Tuesday, but don’t overlook Brian Tyree Henry’s fine, exceptional work as a disabled auto mechanic in Causeway. In Lila Neugebauer’s New Orleans-set Apple TV+ drama, Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) returns home from a tour in Afghanistan, struggling with PTSD and a brain injury, but finds solace in James (Henry), who has been injured by a traumatic event.

Brian Tyree Henry received Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, Outstanding Supporting Actor nominations at the Gotham Awards, and nods from the LA Film Critics, NAACP Image Awards, and more.

Here, IndieWire shares an exclusive video conversation between last year’s best supporting actor Oscar winner CODA Troy Kotsur, his interpreter Justin Mauer and Brian Tyree Henry. In a Q&A hosted by Apple, the two talk about how “blessed” it is to land a role like James in “Causeway” and how the film breaks the mold of how disability is often portrayed on screen. Kotsur made history last year by becoming the first deaf person to win an Oscar for acting. (CODA co-star Marlee Matlin previously made history in Childres of a Lesser God.)

“Physically, he lost a part of himself. Now he’s an amputee,” he said of Henry’s character. “There were parts of me that wanted to explore what that meant, because now not only does she have to learn to walk again, but now she’s labeled as disabled. So I found myself trying to figure out and unpack what disability means, because you know, society has its rules about what they think disabled people can and can’t do. And more often than not, when you hear the word “disability,” you often think, oh, well, limited. What am I limited to? What can’t I do? And I wanted to find out what it was like for someone who went from one-way to (a) suddenly being classified as disabled.”

IndieWire also previously spoke with the Emmy-nominated “Atlanta” star here. “Causeway” is now available on Apple TV+.

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