Millicent Simmonds (born March 6, 2003) is an American actress. She is known as one of the most prominent deaf actors currently working.
Simmonds lost her hearing prior to turning 12 months old as a result of a medication overdose. To communicate with her, her mother and then all of her family members learned American Sign Language. This remains the language she primarily communicates in; however, she also has a cochlear implant. To her family and friends, she's known as Millie.
Simmonds' breakout role was in the 2017 film adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel Wonderstruck. She then became famous for her role in 2018's A Quiet Place, along with its 2020 sequel A Quiet Place Part II, where she played the deaf daughter of a hearing couple. John Krasinski, who directed the first film, pushed for casting a deaf actress in the role during the film's production. The filmmakers hired an ASL interpreter for Simmonds to communicate on set, she and her family answered Krasinski's questions on writing a script about a family with a deaf child, and she helped teach ASL to her fellow cast members.
Along with her acting career, Simmonds also advocates for fellow deaf people. She helped design a transparent face mask for use during the COVID-19 Pandemic which would allow for lip reading and observing facial expressions to help the deaf and hard-of-hearing. All of the proceeds were donated to organizations representing people in those communities.
She has received rewards and accolades for her work, plus furthering deaf representation, while also participating in events recognizing disabled creators. Regarding her roles in Wonderstruck and the Quiet Place films, she has stated that she considers those films as "a corrective" to the long history of deaf characters being played by hearing actors, along with sign language use being edited out. She supports having disabled actors playing characters who have their disabilities more.
Selected filmography:
- Wonderstruck (2017) as Rose
- A Quiet Place (2018) as Regan Abbott, plus its sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
- Andi Mack (2018-19) as Libby (recurring role)
- This Close (2019) as Emmaline (1 episode)
Tropes in her work include:
- Actor-Shared Background: Like Regan, she's deaf and grew up in a hearing family who all know American Sign Language, while also using a cochlear implant. This was a deliberate choice for the role.
- Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: All of her roles have been playing deaf girls like her. She also advocates for this to be done more often, so disabled actors can have more work.
