Marlee Matlin, a trailblazer for deaf actors, opens up in a new documentary

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Marlee Matlin gives an unflinchingly honest account of her experiences as a deaf actor in the funny and revelatory documentary “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.” The film kicked off the 41st Sundance Film Festival Thursday, as the first major premiere in the Eccles Theater in Park City, Utah.

After the screening audiences in the theater, some wiping tears away, greeted Matlin with a standing ovation when she took the stage.

The film delves into all aspects of her life, personal and professional: Her childhood and how her family handled learning she had become deaf at 18 months; her experience winning the best actress Oscar for her first movie role in “Children of a Lesser God” and her allegedly abusive romantic relationship with her co-star, the late William Hurt, which he denied; and her experiences in an industry not equipped to accommodate deaf actors.

The film was directed by Shoshanna Stern, who also is deaf. Matlin specifically requested that Stern take on the project when American Masters approached her about doing a documentary.

Matlin has written about her experiences before, including her volatile relationship with Hurt and drugs, in a memoir, “I’ll Scream Later.” But before the #MeToo movement, she felt her allegations were largely dismissed or glossed over.

Interviews from the book's press tour show journalists were more interested in the “amazing sex” she said she had with Hurt than the stories of the alleged physical and verbal abuse. One interviewer asked her why she waited “so long” to come forward with the claims.

The documentary isn’t just a portrait of Matlin, but a broader look at deaf culture and how Matlin was thrust into the spotlight at a young age as a de facto spokesperson for all deaf causes.

In addition to being the first, and until Troy Kotsur won for “CODA” in 2022, only deaf actor to win an Academy Award, she helped lobby Congress for closed captioning and delved into the Gallaudet University protest about hiring hearing people to preside over the university, which is the subject of another Sundance documentary, “Deaf President Now!”

Matlin also faced backlash when she spoke while presenting the best actor Oscar the year after she won, an experience that she said made her distance herself from deaf causes.

It features moving interviews from her longtime translator and other important figures in her life such as Henry Winkler, who met her when she was a student at age 12.

Winkler watched her perform a song during a school production after she wrote him a fan letter. Later, she stayed in his home for two years after her breakup with Hurt and had her wedding there. In the film, Matlin said she never would have pursued acting if it weren’t for Winkler, although he disagreed.

The film is closed captioned and includes verbal translations for hearing audiences. In a unique approach, the subjects were interviewed by Stern with an earpiece, allowing them to hear translations from another room.

Matlin said she has struggled occasionally to convince the industry to let her play roles that aren’t necessarily written for a deaf actor. Aaron Sorkin, who wrote a part for her in “The West Wing,” dispelled the notion it is difficult to write for deaf actors.

When “CODA” came around, the studio wanted to cast an A-list, hearing male star opposite Matlin. She threatened to walk if it weren’t a deaf actor and was gratified when Kotsur won the Oscar, hence the “not alone anymore” subtitle. Her big disappointment was not being able to say a few words on stage during the event.

Asked why this moment was the right time for a documentary, Matlin said, “It’s never really the right time. So, why not?”

For more coverage of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival.

John Maucere, from left, Marlee Matlin, Shoshannah Stern, and Liz Tannebaum attend the premiere of "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" during the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Marlee Matlin, left, and Shoshannah Stern attend the premiere of "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" during the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Marlee Matlin, left, and Shoshannah Stern attend the premiere of "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" during the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

John Maucere, from left, Marlee Matlin, and Liz Tannebaum attend the premiere of "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" during the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Marlee Matlin attends the premiere of "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" during the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Marlee Matlin attends the premiere of "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" during the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Marlee Matlin attends the premiere of "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" during the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump separately suggested the United States will charge other ships for safe passage, upending hundreds of years of American policy supporting freedom of navigation across the globe.

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates traveling through the strait, killing one mariner and wounding eight others. The Emirates threatened to retaliate against Iran, potentially drawing the nation home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai back into fighting with Tehran.

The attacks come as Iran and the U.S. both vie for control of the strait through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. The price of benchmark Brent crude oil rose 7.8% to $81.92 a barrel, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war but threatening to make costs everywhere higher.

U.S. Central Command announced on social media that the U.S. military had begun another round of strikes against Iran.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S. military said.

Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Trump called it “another major attack.”

“We’re hitting them very hard. And it’ll continue, and we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re knocking out all of their offensive capability and we’re controlling the straits. We’re putting the blockade back.”

Trump also provided new details on his administration doing an about-face and suggesting it will charge tolls for ships going through the strait, after previously suggesting that it wouldn’t.

“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” he said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”

It's a change in U.S. policy that, until now, said the strait should remain open to all without tolls — as it was before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.

The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said early Tuesday that Iran attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one mariner and wounding eight others.

The Emirati Defense Ministry said Iran launched two cruise missiles at the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah.

The attacks set both tankers ablaze, though the fires were extinguished.

Bahrain also came under renewed attack early Tuesday morning as Iran retaliated over the latest round of U.S. airstrikes. Bahrain sounded its missile alert siren, urging the public to seek shelter. There was no word on any damage or casualties from the attack.

The Emirati Defense Ministry said the attack on the tankers killed one Indian national and wounded six Indians and two Ukrainians.

“The UAE reserves its full right to respond to this escalation and to take all necessary measures to protect its territory, its citizens and residents,” the Defense Ministry added.

The Emirates used similar language before launching attacks against Iran during the war. Fighter jets could be heard overheard Tuesday morning in Dubai.

Earlier Monday, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the agreement reached last month was “built to test” Iran, adding that “when you’re dealing with sleazebags (agreements) don’t mean much.”

“They didn’t honor the test,” the president said.

Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic through the strait and potentially charge fees in accordance with the interim peace deal. The U.S. has disputed that.

The American military and the United Nations' International Maritime Organization have tried to establish a route through the strait along the coast of Oman that would be outside of Iranian control. Iran has attacked ships using that route, saying the U.S. is violating the interim peace deal. The U.S. has attacked Iran in response, drawing Iranian attacks on U.S.-allied Arab states.

Exchanges of fire in recent days had already cast further doubt on the interim peace deal. Washington had lifted a blockade it imposed in mid-April as part of that deal, which also called for the strait to be fully reopened.

“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on social media. “All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”

The president said the U.S. would be “reimbursed” by 20% of the value of cargo to help cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”

The U.S. military said it will resume its blockade of Iranian ports at midnight local Wednesday in Dubai.

Boak, Weissert and Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mae Anderson in New York, Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Stella Martany in Irbil, Iraq, contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks after signing executive orders modifying the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Residents check their cellphones as they sit at a cafe overlooking commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Sunday, July 12, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)

People swim and spend time along the shore of the Strait of Hormuz, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Sunday, July 12, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)

Three boys play in the shallow waters of the Strait of Hormuz, as a plume of smoke rises from an explosion in the background, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)

A woman stands at the water's edge along the Strait of Hormuz as a plume of smoke rises in the background following an explosion, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)

Three boys play in the shallow waters of the Strait of Hormuz, as a plume of smoke rises from an explosion in the background, off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)

A group of people stands in shallow water as a cargo ship appears anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

Commercial vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)