Rodney Burford had a dream of becoming a professional football player when he auditioned for Ryan Murphy’s Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Aside from his stint on the reality TV series Deaf U in 2020 and some accidental stage work in high school, Burford, who is Profoundly Deaf and has cochlear implants to help him understand the spoken word, had no acting experience.
In the show, Burford plays Tony Hughes, a 31-year-old Black deaf man who was murdered by serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (portrayed by Evan Peters) in 1991. The episodes delving into Tony’s story have been deemed some of the show’s best, and Burford’s performance has been hailed as a standout.
“It took me a while to realize that this is a real person that I’m portraying,” Burford tells THR, with the assistance of Asl interpreter Gabriel Gomez. “I [wanted] to show so much homage to the person himself.
In the show, Burford plays Tony Hughes, a 31-year-old Black deaf man who was murdered by serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (portrayed by Evan Peters) in 1991. The episodes delving into Tony’s story have been deemed some of the show’s best, and Burford’s performance has been hailed as a standout.
“It took me a while to realize that this is a real person that I’m portraying,” Burford tells THR, with the assistance of Asl interpreter Gabriel Gomez. “I [wanted] to show so much homage to the person himself.
- 6/20/2023
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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