Marlee Matlin attends the 2024 Oscars Governor Awards | Image: Instagram/@themarleematlin
Amid the release of the 2025 Oscar nominations, Marlee Matlin, the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award in 1987, recalled the “abuse” she experienced from her ex-boyfriend, the late actor William Hurt, in a new documentary.
In “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, the actress revealed that she experienced “a habit of abuse” in the hands of Hurt.
The duo starred in the 1986 film “Children of a Lesser God,” where Matlin received her first Oscar for Best Actress; Hurt was also nominated for Best Actor at the time.
Hurt, who died in 2022, presented Matlin her Academy Award at the 1987 Oscar ceremony, a moment the latter recalled in the documentary, detailing how her “traumatic relationship” with the actor overshadowed her victory.
“I was afraid as I walked up the stairs to get the Oscar. I was afraid because I knew in my gut that he wasn’t happy. Because I saw the look on his face, and my thought was, ‘S—!’,” she recalled, adding how cold Hurt reacted when they were alone later that night.
Matlin shared that after kissing Hurt onstage and approaching the podium, she “didn’t take the Oscar from him right away” out of fear.
“I wish it were different. I wish I had shown my joy. But I was afraid because he was standing right there,” she expressed.
Matlin’s sign-language interpreter Jack Jason and “Children of a Lesser God” director Randa Haines shared their respective perspectives wherein they noticed the actress’ suffering.
Jason detailed an incident on a private plane in which Matlin came out with Hurt and with a black eye, while Haines recalled seeing bruises on Matlin’s body while directing the couple in “Children of a Lesser God.”
“I could see that they were having arguments and fights,” Haines recalled. “I remember once noticing a bruise. But I didn’t know. Nobody felt that they had license to enter into a private relationship, comment on it, or ask questions about it.”
Matlin admitted that Hurt was possibly “threatened” by her youth and overnight success, but at the same time, she now gives him “an ounce of credit” for “saving” her in terms of drug use.
“He went to rehab, and I was able to see what it did for him, and I knew that checking in there would do me great,” she said.
Matlin first opened up about Hurt’s abuse in her 2009 autobiography, “I’ll Scream Later.” She alleged that the actor physically abused and raped her. She also addressed the sexual abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her female babysitter.
Matlin made her acting debut as Sarah Norman in the romantic drama film “Children of a Lesser God,” becoming the first deaf performer to win an Academy award and the youngest winner in the Best Actress category at the time.
The actress’ new documentary recounts her journey following her historic Oscar win, especially after her 2021 film “CODA” won three Academy awards including best picture and best supporting actor for Troy Kotsur, also a deaf actor, following in her footsteps.