Eternals star Lauren Ridloff has discussed how movie theaters can become more accessible to deaf audiences, as well as how Hollywood can be more inclusive of deaf actors like herself.

Ridloff, who plays Makkari in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film, spoke with the New York Times about Hollywood's need to be more inclusive when it comes to not only deaf performers, but also deaf creatives. "Hollywood is finally figuring out why it’s so important to have representation, and now it’s more about how," said Ridloff. "That’s the part that’s more tricky. We need to have deaf writers and creative talent involved in the process of planning film projects from the beginning. When you have deaf experts within and on the stage, from the crew to makeup artists, it feels like that naturally leads to more authentic representation onscreen."

RELATED: Eternals Star Reveals How Angelina Jolie Helped Her On Set

Onscreen representation has improved for the deaf community in recent years, with A Quiet Place 1 & 2 casting deaf actor Millicent Simmonds to play Regan Abbott, a deaf teenager and one of the films' leads. The 2020 Oscar-winner Sound of Metal similarly features multiple deaf actors, including Ridloff, playing the members of a rural shelter for deaf individuals who take in the movie's protagonist Ruben Stone, a metal drummer who's lost his hearing.

In addition to Eternals' Makkari, the upcoming Hawkeye series will introduce another deaf superhero to the MCU in the form of Maya Lopez/Echo, who's played by deaf Native American actor Alaqua Cox. But, in spite of Hollywood's progress in this area, movie theaters have yet to improve their accessibility to deaf viewers.

"Hollywood needs to take the lead on subtitling ads, trailers and those cute little interviews with clips that celebrities do promoting their movies," said Ridloff. "Another thing I’d like to see improve is the specifics of audio description. It’s not enough to see 'music is playing' in a scene — what kind of music is it? Happy? Scary?"

RELATED: Hawkeye: Vincent D’Onofrio Tells Fans to Stop Grasping at Straws

Ridloff added that movie theaters also need to take steps to improve the closed-captioning devices they provide to watch subtitles with a film, describing the current tech as a "headache" that barely works. "Then you have to go back to the front desk and find somebody to help, and by the time they figure it out that it’s not working -- that it’s not going to be subtitled at all -- the movie’s halfway done. Then you get, 'Well, how about I give you a free ticket for the next movie?' And I’m like, 'Are you kidding me?' That doesn’t fix the problem."

Marvel's Eternals opens exclusively in theaters on Nov. 5.

KEEP READING: Dune Director Says Marvel Hiring Eternals Filmmaker Is a 'Genius' Move

Source: New York Times