Alaqua Cox Was Bullied for Being Deaf and an Amputee, Now the Marvel Star Is ‘Proud’ to Prove She ‘Can Do Anything’ (Exclusive)

Preparing to portray an incredible Marvel character is a notoriously demanding process that pushes actors to the peak of their physical fitness.

For Alaqua Cox, who is making history as the first Native American star to host a Marvel series in a new Disney+ show Echothis meant training five days a week with the stunt team to learn a multitude of butt-kicking moves.

“I grew up playing all kinds of sports — I’d play one-on-one basketball with my older brother — so I like doing physical things like that,” the actress, who, like her character Maya Lopez, is an amputee and has been deaf all her life, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.

Cox, 26, kicked off the ruthless role with her breakthrough performance opposite Jeremy Renner in the series falcon’s eye. Echo, who debuted in Marvel Comics in 1999, is a gifted fighter with superhuman strength and a thirst for revenge.

From Amazon worker to ‘Hawkeye’ star: How Alaqua Cox beat the odds to become Marvel’s next big hero

Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez in Marvel’s new superhero series ‘Echo’.

Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios

It was on falcon’s eye set in Georgia that Cox found out she would be starring in her own spinoff.

“It was very overwhelming. I texted my family back home in Wisconsin, I said, ‘I’m getting my Marvel show!’ she recalls. “I followed them immediately via FaceTime. I didn’t have anyone to stand by me, but I was so proud of myself.”

Cox grew up on the Menominee Indian Reservation, a 358-square-mile tract in northeastern Wisconsin. “I come from a hearing family, and I also have a deaf younger brother,” she says. “My whole family signs, we’re all very close.”

But the actress, who has not publicly revealed anything about losing her leg, struggled in a regular school where there was no American Sign Language classes.

“There was no awareness of deaf culture at all,” she says. “They abused me because I’m deaf and an amputee, and I would have complained, but the district wouldn’t listen.”

Marvel’s falcon’s eye Spinoff Echo He explores the depths of ‘Pain’ and ‘Rage’ in Bloody First Trailer

Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez in Marvel’s Echo.

Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios

In eighth grade. Cox began commuting to another high school more than 50 miles from her reservation, where a dedicated program for the deaf and skilled sign language interpreters transformed her education.

Before landing the Marvel gig — her first acting role — Cox worked a series of jobs, including warehouses for Amazon and FedEx (“Oh, my God, it was bad,” she recalls) and caring for the elderly at a hospice where she enjoyed it much more. When her friends noticed a falcon’s eye audition for an Indigenous deaf woman in her 20s, she was encouraged to apply, but Cox wasn’t sold on acting.

“Then two other friends sent me the same link and I thought, ‘Well, that’s a sign. I have to try and try,'” she says.

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The Marvel role not only launched her acting career, but also opened a new chapter in her personal life. Cox bought her first home in Wisconsin in April with her fiance and partner of six years, Erich, with whom they welcomed their first child, a son, in October.

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Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez in Marvel’s ‘Echo’.

Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios

Cox predicts a busy year ahead. With several acting projects already in the works, he hopes to tackle a wide variety of characters — not just the villainous roles he often portrays.

But for now, the actress seems mostly content to bask in her hard-earned success, playing a superheroine who paves the way in Hollywood for various performers who look more like her.

“It’s funny. When I got this role, I was contacted by people who were harassing me,” she says. “I’m just really proud to show them that I can do anything. I can achieve anything on the same level as any other normal person. I can be a superhero. Anything is possible.”

For more on Alaqua Cox, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday or subscribe here.

All five episodes Echo are available to stream on Disney+.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education