‘Echo’: Devery Jacobs & Chaske Spencer on Learning ASL for Marvel Series (VIDEO)
Disney+‘s latest Marvel entry Echo is taking us deeper into the story behind Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) who was first introduced onscreen in 2021’s Hawkeye. But fret not if you missed the initial introduction because this new series under Marvel’s Spotlight banner means you don’t have to be in the know about Marvel’s current timeline as Echo gives viewers the true origin story of Maya.
In order to understand her better, viewers get a closer look at Maya’s family, who live in Oklahoma as she trades in the gritty streets of New York City for time spent among her Indigenous Choctaw community. Fleeing from Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) after shooting him in Hawkeye, Maya must face the family and friends she left behind when her late father William (Zahn McClarnon) relocated them. Among the individuals she’s reuniting with after years away are Bonnie (Devery Jacobs) and Henry (Chaske Spencer).
(Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/©Marvel Studios)
“Bonnie is somebody who was incredibly close with Maya Lopez growing up,” Jacobs tells TV Insider. “She was a Coda, which is a child of deaf adults. So even though Bonnie’s a hearing person, she is able to speak ASL (American Sign Language) fluently. And as a result of that, they were able to get incredibly close, almost like sisters growing up.”
“When Maya Lopez is kind of torn away to New York City and becomes part of Fisk’s army, there’s a disconnect that happens and a severing of that relationship between Maya and Bonnie,” she adds. “And when Maya comes back into town, back into the Choctaw Nation [she] has to confront all of these demons of her past.”
While Jacobs says, “I think the relationship with Bonnie is one that’s haunted her that she doesn’t necessarily want to to deal with,” it’s another story for Spencer’s Henry.
(Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/©Marvel Studios)
“Uncle Henry is running the Oklahoma chapter of Fisk’s crime syndicate when Maya comes back into his life,” Spencer explains. “And I think Maya represents the ghost of Christmas past for some of his demons that he didn’t want to confront… I feel like he owes her and he feels like trying to protect her, but she doesn’t need protection whatsoever, and Henry is mainly just running around trying to clean up after her.”
Unlike their characters onscreen though, Jacobs and Spencer were not fluent in ASL when they signed onto the show, which is a central aspect of communication between their hearing roles and Maya who is deaf, like Cox. “I didn’t previously know ASL despite always having wanted to learn,” Jacobs shares. “And I think this presented an opportunity to learn this really beautiful language and learn about deaf culture. And I think it was a responsibility that was very heavy but never burdensome. We wanted to make sure that we were showing the most respect to this community as possible.”
Part of the joy of learning Jacobs says, was being “able to communicate with Alaqua who is deaf. We’re both hearing people and so we want to make sure that we’re doing the most that we can to be inclusive not only in this work but also beyond,” she adds, alluding to herself and Spencer. “I’m still learning ASL even after the show has wrapped and it’s something I’d love to continue doing moving forward.”
“It was great working with Alaqua. She’s amazing,” Spencer gushes. Noting Cox’s patience with their learning of ASL, Spencer adds, “We want to do justice for them and make sure we can do an authentic performance and make sure the emotions are real, the ASL is real, all of that, and you’re good when all these tools come together. And so I think the audience is going to see that.”
See what else the stars had to share about the direction of the story, their characters, and more in the full video interview, above, and check out Echo when it arrives on Disney+.
Echo, Series Premiere, Tuesday, January 9, 9/8c, Disney+
