"I think that no one should ever be treated lesser than anybody else," said award-winning actress Marlee Matlin. "Everyone should have the same opportunity to express themselves."
Matlin's views echo the mission of the ArtsABLE project, which is a community-wide effort to bring performers with disabilities to the Muncie area to share their talent and experiences with the city.
Matlin will appear tonight at 8 p.m. in Emens Auditorium as part of the ArtsABLE series, which has brought artists such as jazz singer Diane Schuur and the Cleveland Dancing Wheels Ballet to Ball State for performances. Admission to tonight's event is free.
"I hope that (audience members will) have a good laugh, because I have some funny stories," Matlin said. "I hope that they'll see that I'm just a regular person who wanted to be an actor, who was lucky enough to get the chance to do it and is doing it."
Matlin, who lost her hearing when she was 18 months old from a bout of the measles, spoke with the Daily News over the phone through her interpreter and production assistant Jack Jason. She resides in southern California with husband Kevin Grandalski and their two young children. She is currently six months pregnant with their third child.
"My parents did a good job when I was growing up to incorporate being hearing-impaired into my life without any difficulty, so I never think of it as a disability," she said. "The only disability is in your head."
In 1987, Matlin became the youngest person to receive a Best Actress Academy Award. Matlin was only 21 when she won an Oscar for her performance in the film version of "Children of a Lesser God." The same role won her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama as well.
She has also appeared on numerous television shows, including "Seinfeld," "Spin City," "Picket Fences" and "ER." Matlin can currently be seen on "The West Wing" and "The Practice." She also has a recurring role on the children's program "Blue's Clues."
Matlin spends a great deal of time working on behalf of various groups, including the hearing-impaired community, organizations that help children with AIDS, the American Red Cross, Victory Over Violence and Very Special Arts.
Matlin said her visibility is one of her greatest assets to the causes she represents.
"I'm on television on 'The West Wing,' and 25 million people see that. They see I'm deaf, and they see I'm functioning in the White House (in her role as a pollster)," Matlin said. "When I won my Academy Award, hundreds of millions of people saw that. People know a deaf person can do it."
This October, Matlin's first book, a children's work titled, "Deaf Child Crossing," will be released.
"It's designed primarily to entertain," Matlin said, "but there's a message in there. It says a deaf child and a hearing child can be friends, regardless of whether one is deaf or one is hearing.
"It's funny and it's sad and it mirrors a lot of my growing up. And, in fact, it's semi-autobiographical."
Matlin's children live in a bilingual household, experiencing the communication methods both she and and her husband employ. She said parenthood has changed her perspective on life.
"It opens your focus," Marlin said, about her newest role as a mother. "It's not about (jeweler) Harry Winston and (designer Giorgio) Armani all the time. Now it's about Target and Pampers. But that's OK. I like both."
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