It’s no surprise that acclaimed actor Troy Kotsur is the face of Bottega Veneta’s “Craft is Our Language” campaign, shot by Jack Davison and celebrating 50 years of the house’s iconic Intrecciato weave. After all, who understands the synthesis of gesture, craft, and communication better than the first Deaf man to take home an Oscar? Since his Academy Award triumph in 2022, Kotsur’s been weaving his own tapestry as an actor, director, and producer. This year alone brings four new projects: the indie In Cold Light premiering at Tribeca; a role in Apple TV+’s Foundation (fulfilling a childhood Star Wars fan’s Asimov dreams); Netflix’s star-studded Black Rabbit, alongside Jason Bateman and Jude Law; and a foray into horror with Walter Hamada’s Primate. But before things get too busy, Kotsur joined his fellow Bottega muses Jack Antonoff, Julianne Moore, and Tyler, the Creator to channel Bruno Munari’s classic Italian gesture handbook on camera, with choreography by Lenio Kaklea. As he told us afterward, “I am fully aware that almost everything coming from my heart and my mind will be fully communicated with my hands.”
———
As both tools of craft and as a universal language, hands are your primary means of expression. How did Bottega Veneta’s vision of “Craft is our Language” resonate with you?
I could not live without my hands. We use our hands for touch, feel, and basic tasks such as eating. In the Deaf world, we 100% rely on our hands for communication, but we, along with everyone else, communicate by what we create with our hands. It was easy for me to connect with this message, because as a Deaf man, I am fully aware that almost everything coming from my heart and my mind will be fully communicated with my hands.
The Intrecciato weave is a metaphor for connectivity, for the threads that bind people, gestures, and meaning together. As someone who communicates through the expressive language of hands, what have you woven lately—either literally or metaphorically—that reflects your own sense of connection?
With my sense of connectivity, this illustrates what it is for the Deaf community to work with the hearing world. This is something that I do with the work I weave into every project as an actor, director and producer. Many in the hearing world don’t realize the adjustment that is for anyone in the Deaf community, but we feel it and I embrace it. There is so much to be learned, and what begins as a challenge blends into something beautiful that brings connection and beautiful things that are beyond the sum of the parts.
Besides the craft of Intrecciato, what’s Italy’s greatest export?
The food and the wine!
Do you have any recurring dreams?
Yes, I do. I dream of a world in which all people sign! Sorry to my interpreter friends—in that world you’d have to find a new job!
Tyler, The Creator, photographed by Jack Davison for Bottega Veneta.
The campaign pays homage to Bruno Munari’s handbook of Italian gestures, Supplemento al Dizionario Italiano. Were there any particular gestures you found especially meaningful or that translated well to your experience with ASL?
To me, Italian gesturing feels like ASL when someone is signing angry! The nice way of saying that would be that Italian gesturing has a lot of heart.
What’s your favorite Italian hand gesture?
Definitely “Che vuoi,” where the tips of your fingers touch. You can kiss your fingers to say that the meal was delicious. Or it can be used when you can’t understand what the hell someone is talking about.
Bottega Veneta truly entered the zeitgeist when Lauren Hutton carried an Intrecciato clutch in American Gigolo. What’s your favorite film fashion moment?
It’s interesting because I always loved the style in American Gigolo. The jackets, suits, and well-fitted, classic looks. I think it influenced my character and how I dress.
Tell us your most memorable audition story:
I’ll never forget my audition for Criminal Minds in 2012. It was back in the time when they would look for a hearing actor to play Deaf. But my friend Matthew Jaguar, an interpreter and an actor, said that I should go anyway as a real Deaf person. And he recommended me. It was between myself and about 15 hearing people. I crushed it and booked the role.
Why can’t it just be magic all the time?
If it was magic all the time, how could it be special? Then it wouldn’t be magic, it would just be normal life. For it to be magic, it needs to be very rare.
Julianne Moore, photographed by Jack Davison for Bottega Veneta.
Most iconic Italian movie star?
Iconic Italian-American, I would say Robert De Niro. But an honorable mention for Leo.
What movie made you want to be an actor?
Star Wars. I will never forget going to the theater and seeing that spaceship seemingly fly over my head. I was hooked on movies from that day on, and I watched it 28 times in the theater. Seriously. People don’t realize this, but movies didn’t have captions back then. It just wasn’t a thing. That lead to my love of foreign film because they had to caption it for the English-speaking audience. Star Wars was different. The visuals are so epic and the storytelling is so universal that I understood it 100% even though I wouldn’t know what they were saying for several decades.
Where do you keep your Academy Award?
I keep it on a shelf with my dog protecting it. But if you want a funny story, Google the article about when I lost it when my Jeep was stolen. It’s funny now because we got it back, but it wasn’t funny at the time.
Jack Antonoff, photographed by Jack Davison for Bottega Veneta.
Content shared from www.interviewmagazine.com.