How Model, Actor, and Deaf Activist Nyle DiMarco Plans to Use His Platform
Photography by Aingeru Zorita
Styling by Julian Antetomaso
On the first season of Sundance Channel’s brilliant series This Close, Nyle DiMarco plays a character named Ben Genovese, who shows up to a luncheon staffed by PR assistant Kate (played by series co-creator Shoshannah Stern). Kate, who is Deaf, immediately swings into action, taking Ben across the red carpet, letting the photographers and interviewers know the right protocol on how to interview a celebrity who is Deaf.
“Where have you been all my life?” Ben asks Kate, but he might as well be talking about representation in the entertainment industry for the d/Deaf/HoH community as a whole.
“This Close is the first television show created and written by Deaf people about Deaf people,” DiMarco tells me via an email interview. “It’s just the beginning, revolutionizing Hollywood with more talented Deaf artists, as well as more authentic and creative stories about the Deaf.”
DiMarco is possibly the most high profile actor/model who is Deaf working today. Having won America’s Next Top Model Cycle 22 (2015), not to mention Dancing with the Stars, season 22 (2016), DiMarco uses his profile and his vast social media following (DiMarco has 1.7 million followers on Instagram) to promote progress in film and television with regards to d/Deaf/HoH actors and crew.
“Inclusion is extremely important across the board, but it is a process and it takes time,” DiMarco says about the #deaftalent movement. “I think Hollywood is finally listening and becoming more aware of the extreme lack of representation, but there is a lot of work still to do. People like Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman, who created This Close, are helping propel things forward for mainstream Deaf entertainment and are an encouraging example to all of us to get our projects and our stories out there.”
But DiMarco isn’t an advocate for d/Deaf/HoH actors, but a champion for intersecting causes. In one video for them. Magazine, DiMarco and artist Chella Man cycled through a few American Sign Language queer vocabulary words. He has appeared on the cover of The Gay Times and in the pages of OUT Magazine, and has been quoted in the pages of Paper Magazine as having a “fluid” sexuality. It all adds up to a quantifiable need for more intersecting characters across media.
“I believe that when people see other people with existing identities embracing another identity, it helps with their journey,” says DiMarco. “It shows that we are not just one particular thing, that we should never hold a single thing back that makes us unique. Let it all out, be your authentic self, and then the stars will align for you. I cannot stress enough the importance of media including characters who intersect at LGBTQIA+ and d/Deaf/HoH or other disabilities, because there are millions of people worldwide who need to be represented. When we see ourselves in the mainstream, with all the various identities that make up who we are, it shows that we have value and a place in this world.”
DiMarco is putting his money where his mouth is, starting a production company that will be geared towards providing a platform for filmmakers and talent in the d/Deaf/HoH community—while continuing to explore personal projects.
“I believe in the importance of having Deaf decision-makers behind the camera and have been creating and writing several projects that I hope to get off the ground in 2019,” he says. Luckily, as one of the most successful people to ever graduate from ANTM, DiMarco is in a position to make huge waves—and he credits his time on the show with giving him a launching pad.
“Beyond a doubt. ANTM, including Tyra Banks, Miss J, Kelly Cutrone, and Yu Tsai, gave me a platform and, no-pun intended, voice I never knew existed,” reflects DiMarco. Dancing with the Stars only cemented his place in the reality TV pantheon. With dance partner Peta Murgatroyd, DiMarco shook and shimmied his way through perfect routine after perfect routine for more than 10 million viewers, coming out on top over contestants like Mischa Barton and Geraldo Rivera.
“I have a funny theory,” says DiMarco about why he thinks he won. “I grew up at a Deaf school. Deaf schools typically have 500 students or less, from kindergarten to 12th grade. Regardless… to me, it seemed like a big school. My school had soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and even school plays, but we never had enough players or kids to participate. We would be nicely ‘coerced’ into participating. Every year, until I was 18, I ended up playing basically every sport we had at school. We became masters of picking up a new sport and then quickly moving on to the next. It built our athleticism from an early age and we became extremely good at a variety of sports. I think that’s why I was a good dancer. I’m pretty competitive and it was a great new athletic challenge that I could jump into.”
For all the accomplishments, though, DiMarco counts the formation of the Nyle DiMarco Foundation as one of his most important.
“We work closely with LEAD-K supporting their legislation that ensures every Deaf child has access to healthy language acquisition,” says DiMarco about the Foundation’s current focus. “When I first got involved, we were starting from scratch, zero states were passing legislation like this. It really does take a village of passionate voices to educate, bring awareness and eventually make changes to the current system.”
DiMarco is incredibly positive, even in the face of a world in which United States resident Donald Trump has repeatedly disparaged people with disabilities, including Deaf actor Marlee Matlin.
“Trump’s antics towards people with disabilities has amplified awareness about disability discrimination and discriminatory thinking regarding galvanized people with disabilities as a whole, including allies,” says DiMarco. “The public is aware, and that is the silver lining I chose to see.”
Having walked for Giorgio Armani at Milan Fashion Week for Spring 2017, and acting as producer for the recent Broadway revival of Mark Medoff’s classic play Children of a Lesser God, DiMarco is clearly a man of many talents, paving a way for d/Deaf/HoH talent and creatives to follow his lead. All signs point to DiMarco’s influence only growing from here.
TOP PHOTO: All CLOTHING DIOR MEN / MIDDLE PHOTO: ALL CLOTHING LOUIS VUITTON
Credits
Makeup: Tatiana Donaldson using MAC Cosmetics
Hair: Carolyn Riley/De Facto
Producer: Spencer Salley
Photography Assistants: Scott Fitzpatrick, Chris White
Stylist Assistants: Mina Erkli, Emily Drake
Location: Dune Studios
