ABOUT natasha

Being a writer and storyteller started at a young age, not realizing this passion will bloom later in her life. There is no timeline for when passion reveals itself. Writing stories in words and art liberates her soul, creating joy. Storytelling helps Natasha cope with her depression by interweaving her feelings and experiences to inspire action, change, and emotions. Her storytelling is expressed through her writing, actor, and advocate work.

Writer

There is a phrase Natasha repeatedly said to herself for many years: hard work does pay off. There were many moments when she wanted to throw in the towel. With the perseverance of commitment and trusting the universe, Natasha took steps to write her first play, The Window. A workshop with Deaf West Theatre in partnership with WACO Theatre Center will take place in Spring 2023. Writing her first play inspired her to write, produce and act in her first short film, The Multi.

The Multi is one of her proudest projects. Natasha immensely enjoyed providing the film's creative direction, including the editing, score, and color. Natasha wanted the audience to experience a human connection with characters not seen on the screen: dark-skinned deaf actors. During the 2022 film festival run, 12 film festivals selected The Multi, including Oscars, BAFTA, and Canadian Screener qualifiers such as LA Shorts International Film Festival, British Urban Film Festival, Superfest and the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Festival (semi-finalist).

She is currently in a writer's room for an untitled show under Starz/WBTV with Ava DuVernay's production company, Array. This untitled show will feature Joshua Jackson (The Affairs, Dawson's Creek, Little Fires Everywhere) and Lauren Ridloff (Eternals and The Walking Dead).

Natasha looks forward to writing and producing more stories and bringing them to life. She has four scripts she is working on and is open to collaboration.

Actor

Her first love is acting. It all started when she performed her first monologue called The Hearing Boyfriend, written by DJ Kurs. After that performance, she fell in love with acting.

Natasha is known for her work in several TV series that are currently steaming: Ryan Murphy's The Politician on Netflix, where she played Principal Karen Vaughn in four episodes, and Amazon Originals' Undone, created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Kate Pudy, where she played a Deaf Teacher in two episodes. In Undone, Natasha is the first Black Deaf animated character in the show.

Natasha debuted in a Marvel Studios, Sony, and Insomniac Games video game as the first Black Deaf woman to play a Black deaf character. She was honored to play Hailey Cooper in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

Advocate

Natasha is a fierce advocate for her Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, especially the Black, BIPOC, children, youth, and adults. She is working on a project with Gallaudet University to spark conversations about positive, impactful social and educational changes for our Black Deaf community. The project will debut in 2023.

In addition, Natasha co-wrote and produced with Storm Smith on a creative project, Am I Next? The video garnered over 100,000 views across various social media platforms, sparking much-needed conversations about the injustices the Black Deaf community experiences.

Lastly, Natasha is one of the co-founders of 1IN4. 1IN4 Coalition is an intersectional coalition of disabled creatives currently working in Hollywood focused on long-term institutional shifts to increase employment and authentic representation of disabled people.

Natasha’s Loves

Other than her world of acting, writing, and producing, Natasha loves:

Nature - She enjoys hiking different trails throughout Southern California, Lake Tahoe, Reno, and any new trails.
Watching old movies for the 100th time.
Playing board and card games - Sorry, Idiot, The Mind, and Skyjo.
Dancing and listening to MUSIC! She can dance for hours. It is liberating when she loses herself in the world of music.

She has two cats, Jupiter and Milo, and a loving husband =)