Marvel Studios' Eternals is now available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD, featuring never-before-seen bonus material including four deleted scenes, director's commentary, and a gag reel. In celebration of the release, learn "power words" in American Sign Language (ASL) from Lauren Ridloff, who stars as Makkari, the MCU's first deaf superhero!
One of the deleted scenes, "Nostalgia," occurs between Sprite (Lia McHugh) and Makkari as the two characters reminisce about humankind while overlooking the ruins of Babylon. McHugh spoke to MovieWeb about learning ASL for the film and how the experience was for her:
I was very interested in learning ASL to talk with Lauren Ridloff, and they didn't add that scene until later in the shooting process. But I took a sign language class, and I spoke with Lauren quite a bit. The sign language I learned in that scene, I still know it to this day. Once you learn ASL, it's in your body almost, and you just remember it. So I still remember exactly what I did during that scene, but that was fun, especially to have a good moment with Lauren.
I took it as a really fun learning experience. Once I learned the basics, like the alphabet and a few things, it's not very difficult to spell things out. Lauren, who used to be a sign language teacher, is good at teaching it.
Perhaps, Ridloff's skills as an ASL teacher come from her experience working as a tutor. The actress's career has taken off faster than most, and she really only started her Hollywood journey a few years ago when she accepted a job tutoring Kenny Leon. He directed the 2018 Broadway revival of the play Children of a Lesser God. However, after a year of tutoring Leon, Ridloff was cast in the leading role opposite Joshua Jackson. Her debut performance earned her a Tony Award nomination.
Check out the step-by-step guide below, and please share with any MCU fans looking to sign along with Makkari:
Lauren Ridloff on Power Words
In ASL some signs are iconic, meaning the sign's form resembles its meaning. In contrast, some signs are arbitrary, meaning the sign maintains an association between the form and meaning solely by convention. In an essay for Vogue Australia, Ridloff described how these concepts apply to power and superheroes:
The ASL sign for baby is transparently iconic—one goes through the motions of cradling a baby to signify baby. The ASL sign for power is iconic also. You hold up one arm as if to flex your bicep and use the other hand, shaped like a claw, to outline the shape of the bicep. That’s how one signs power and I see it as an immediately iconic physical sign that aligns with my initial thoughts about power. I immediately envision physical strength. Superheroes. Warriors. People with an army, with muscle, with strength that is extraordinary. That’s the easy, concrete definition of power.
When Ridloff stepped into the role of Makkari, she agreed to help create completely new sign language gestures for the "powerful" superheroes in Eternals. By creating her own signs, Ridloff was given a sense of power in her own ability to communicate with her fellow castmates, and now, she is excited to share those signs with the world! After teaching fans how to sign Thanos earlier this spring, Ridloff now shows off how to sign words and phrases like Makkari, Eternals, and family.