ABOUT natasha

Being an artist, writer, and storyteller started at a young age, but Natasha did not realize this passion would bloom later in her life. Her mom immigrated from Sierra Leone on the West Coast of Africa. At 18 months old, Natasha became deaf from a high fever. That did not scare her mother, who became Natasha’s biggest supporter, and it shaped who Natasha is today as a proud Black, Deaf woman.

Growing up being the only deaf child in her family meant being solitary in her world of imagination and observation. Natasha loved going to the library and reading stories to ignite her imagination. Stories and music are a way for Natasha to tap into her inner emotions and accept how she sees the world. She loves and believes in the power of storytelling that invokes feelings of human connection, openness, and learning, driving her passion for acting, writing, and filmmaking.

Actress

Her first love is acting. That is how it all started when she performed her first monologue called The Hearing Boyfriend. At that moment, she fell in love with acting. As an actor, 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 4 episodes, and Amazon Originals' Undone, created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Kate Pudy, where she played a Deaf Teacher in 2 episodes. In Undone, Natasha is the first Black Deaf Actress shown as an animated character.

Natasha debuted in a Marvel Studios, Sony, and Insomniac Games video game as the first Black Deaf woman to play a character in a video game. She is honored to play Hailey Cooper in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Natasha also returns as Hailey Cooper in the 2nd game, Spider-Man 2, released in October 2023!

Natasha achieved historical milestones as she won the 2024 Game Accessibility Conference award for “Best Representation” for her portrayal of Hailey Cooper, the first Black Deaf playable character in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 video game.

Additionally, Natasha made a special appearance on Saturday Night Live with Coldplay doing a live American Sign Language performance of “The Astronaut.” In collaboration with Coldplay, Pulse Films, and Director Ben Mor, Natasha developed the story and creative direction for the music video for Coldplay’s first single, feelslikeimfallinginlove, of their new album, Moon Music, as the Creative Director and lead performer. The video was nominated for two MTV VMA awards: Best Rock and Video for Good.

Writer

There is a phrase Natasha repeatedly said to herself for many years: hard work does pay off. Her hard work as a writer earned her a position as a writer in the writer’s room for the Starz/Warner Brothers TV show with Ava DuVernay’s production company, Array. The untitled show will feature Joshua Jackson (The Affairs, Dawson's Creek, Little Fires Everywhere) and Lauren Ridloff (Eternals and The Walking Dead). Natasha co-wrote the Untitled Episode 111. It has been a journey of grittiness, belief in herself, and creating her own content that led to the writer’s room.

There is a phrase Natasha repeatedly said to herself for many years: hard work does pay off. There are moments she wants to throw in the towel. With the perseverance of commitment, dedication, and trust in the universe, Natasha took steps to write her first play, The Window. She co-produced and acted in the staged workshop of the play with WACO Theatre Center and Deaf West Theatre in May 2023. The goal is for the play to become a production in 2024. Writing her first play inspired her to write her first short film, The Multi.

The Multi (trailer) is one of the proud projects she worked on as a writer, director, producer, and actor. She took a chance to financially invest in her film because she genuinely believed the world needed to see this story. Authentic representation is an important mission for Natasha. Her vision is for the audience to connect with the characters not often seen on the screen, dark-skinned deaf actors. Her creative direction and production ensured that her vision came true. During the 2022 film festival circuit, fourteen (14) film festivals selected The Multi. Some were Oscar's, BAFTA, and Canadian screener film festival qualifiers. Natasha is now writing a feature film based on The Multi.

More exciting news for The Multi: the short film was selected for the AGBO x Slamdance Summer Showcase that took place in August 2023. AGBO is the Academy Award-Winning studio founded by Anthony and Joe Russo, along with Mike Larocca. Natasha is honored and touched that The Multi continues to receive recognition.

She worked as a writer in a writer's room for 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: Eternal and The Walking Dead.

Natasha looks forward to writing and producing more stories and bringing them to life.

Advocate

A natural-born advocate, whenever Natasha is on set, in the writer's room, or working as a consultant, Natasha advocates for accessibility, authentic representation, and opportunities for the Deaf and disabled community, especially Black and BIPOC deaf youth.

In September 2023, Natasha attended the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as one of the Accessibility Evaluators to assess the festival’s accessibility for attendees with disabilities. Being an advocate for our disabled community is a natural role for her. If there is anything she can do to make people see people with disabilities as human, she will do it. At the end of the day, we are all humans born into this beautiful, chaotic world. We exist. Her advocacy work includes adding the A – access – to the DEI. Natasha is one of the co-founders of 1IN4 Coalition, 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.

At the Barbie premiere, she worked with the 1IN4 Coalition team on establishing access points for disabled guests, with much success. She worked as a consultant at the Academy Awards/Oscars 2023 to ensure our Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and guests with disabilities had access. It was such an impactful experience because the guests had access while people from all over the world were watching the American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation of the event, generating over 100,000 views on YouTube. Her work (two years in a row) as a Consultant for the Blackstar Film Festival includes consultation on creating an enjoyable and accessible festival experience.

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.