James "Joey" Caverly (born in 1988 or 1989) is an American actor who has been Deaf since birth.
Personal life
Caverly was born and raised in
Royal Oak, Michigan
Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236.
Royal Oak is located along th ...
. He has been deaf since birth and has an older sister who is also deaf, as well as two younger brothers who are hearing; his parents are hearing, as well.
In 2007, Caverly graduated from
Lahser High School
Lahser High School was a high school in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, near Bloomfield Hills and in Greater Detroit. It was a part of Bloomfield Hills Schools. The school was opened in 1967. a mainstream school in the
Bloomfield Hills School District
Bloomfield Hills Schools (BHS) is a school district in the Greater Detroit area of the U.S. state of Michigan, with its headquarters in Bloomfield Township in Oakland County. In addition to portions of Bloomfield Township the district also ser ...
with a program for deaf and hard of hearing students. In 2011, he received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
Theatre Arts
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
from
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...
.
As of 2022, Caverly lives in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Career
After graduating from
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...
, Caverly joined
National Theatre of the Deaf
The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) is a Connecticut-based theatre company founded in 1967, and is the oldest theatre company in the United States with a continuous history of domestic and international touring, as well as producing original wor ...
, where he both directed and acted in plays for two years.
Following his time with National Theatre of the Deaf, Caverly performed with
Huntington Theatre Company
The Huntington Theatre Company is a professional theatre located in Boston, Massachusetts and the recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award, under the direction of Managing Director Michael Maso. It is notable for its longstanding artist ...
,
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley.
History
The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident pr ...
,
Studio Theatre
A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...
,
Kitchen Theatre Company Kitchen Theatre Company (KTC) is a non-profit professional theater company in Ithaca, New York that focuses on making “bold, intimate, and engaging" theater. The Kitchen was founded in 1991 and is now in its 27th season. KTC is a member of the The ...
, and SpeakEasy Stage Company. In 2018, he performed in a Broadway production of '' Children Of A Lesser God'' with
Studio 54
Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...
.
Aside from acting, Caverly has also directed plays, including a production of ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' in both
American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...
and spoken English for
Community College of Baltimore County
The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) is a public community college in Baltimore County, Maryland, with three main campuses and three extension centers.
Academics
CCBC has more than 100 associate degree and certificate programs in ...
Community Theatre.
Portrayals of deafness in media
As a deaf person who interacts with the media, Caverly has spoken publicly about the lack of accurate representation of deafness in film and television, as well as on stage. He has discussed how, in many media portrayals, the deaf person is "the problem, they’re the issue in the story that needs to be fixed," which is not "the lens that the world needs to see."
Although he has experienced some barriers to his acting career due to his deafness, Caverly has stated, "As a deaf person I’m already invested in communicating through my body ... And when I’m on stage it’s really easy for me to find that piece of emotion because I do it on a day to day basis."
''Only Murders in the Building''
Through ''
Only Murders in the Building
''Only Murders in the Building'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The ten-episode first season premiered on Hulu in August 2021. The plot follows three strangers played by Steve Ma ...
'' he had the opportunity to craft and artfully act as a complex deaf character. Caverly has previously indicated, "there are one too many creators who write disabled characters as two-dimensional: fixating on their disability without room for growth." However, Caverly worked with series co-creator John Hoffman and director
Cherien Dabis
Cherien Dabis (born 1976) ( ar, شيرين دعيبس) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of ''Variety'' magazine's ''10 Directors to Watch'' in 2009, and in 2022 was nominated for the Outstanding Dir ...
"to figure out how to portray Theo authentically without feeling like a gimmick. Aside from the dialogue changes, he triotalked about how a deaf person views the world," making the character creation "a true collaborative effort between the creators and averlyto bring the character to life."
In 2021, the series included an episode that had only one line of dialogue and featured Caverly's character''.'' When asked about the episode, Caverly said, "Framing the entire episode in the perspective of a Deaf person is a subversive act" because " forces the audience to listen closely, but with their eyes instead of ears." In crafting the episode, Caverly worked closely with director Cherien Dabis to more accurately represent his experiences as a deaf person, including camera angles. Additionally, the episode's screenwriters, Stephen Markley and
Ben Philippe
Ben Philippe is a Haitian-Canadian author and screenwriter.
Biography
Philippe was born in Haiti and raised in Montreal. Philippe received his B.A. from Columbia University in 2011 and received his MFA from the Michener Center for Writers in A ...
, shied away from making Caverly's character too "exceptional," indicating that people with disabilities, much like able-bodied people, are imperfect but not villainous.
Caverly appeared in the second season of ''Only Murders in the Building'' and further highlighted the existing misrepresentation of deafness in media. Importantly, Caverly's and
Selena Gomez
Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...
's characters attempt to converse with one another, but Gomez's character does not know sign language. Caverly's character informs her that he can only catch about a third of what she says based on reading lips. This scene, in particular, is important because "Communication is something that, when Deaf people are present on-screen, usually isn’t perceived as a problem when it is."
After working on ''Only Murders in the Building'', Caverly said that he is ready to explore more roles that do not fixate on the character's hearing loss, especially when the character's deafness does not elevate the plot. He asserts that "true inclusion would mean more disabled people in the writing room, behind the camera, and on the production team." Including disabled people in every step of the process would, he claims, help to "dismantle" the "tired portrayal of disabled characters on TV."
Awards and honors
The ''
Only Murders in the Building
''Only Murders in the Building'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The ten-episode first season premiered on Hulu in August 2021. The plot follows three strangers played by Steve Ma ...
'' episode "The Boy from 6B" was given the Seal of Authentic Representation from the
Ruderman Family Foundation
The Ruderman Family Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, managed by the Ruderman family. The foundation operates in the US and in Israel in two main areas: inclusion of people w ...
for Caverly's portrayal of Theo, as an actor with a disability and at least five lines of dialogue.
In 2022, Caverly was thought to be a possible contender for an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nomination for his role on ''Only Murders in the Building'', which would have made him the first deaf actor to be nominated, though he did not receive a nomination.