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'Switched at Birth': Meet Katie LeClerc and Sean Berdy, hard-of-hearing stars
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ABC Family's "Switched at Birth" is pretty much what it sounds like - the tale of two teenage girls who discover that the hospital swapped up their ID tags when they were born. One of them, Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano) drives a BMW, lives in a mansion, and attends a fancy private school. The other, Daphne Vasquez (Katie LeClerc), went deaf after an illness in infancy, and has grown up in a less desirable neighborhood with her single mother.
While Marano is recognizable, particularly to "Gilmore Girls" fans, LeClerc is a newer face. She's has had small roles on "Veronica Mars" and "Hard Times of RJ Berger," but "Switched at Birth" is her first high-profile gig.
"To make this show real and genuine, we had to find hard-of-hearing actors," executive producer Paul Stupin says in a casting feature. "We were looking for a character who could be the lead of an ABC Family show, who has a great look, who is a wonderful actress, who has a sense of confidence that the character has, and optimism, and at the same time, had to be hard of hearing."
"I started to take sign language in high school, because I was very bad at Spanish, and I fell in love with the language and the culture that surrounds it," LeClerc says. As a teenager, she got her hearing tested as part of a project, and was shocked to discover that she actually needed hearing aids.
LeClerc has Meniere's Disease. Sufferers have hearing loss, usually on one side, that fluctuates, and they frequently experience a roaring sound, similar to the sound we hear when we listen to a seashell.
"Some days I hear pretty well," LeClerc says. "And some days I hear absolutely nothing." LeClerc wasn't able to afford the hearing aids that she needed, but when she was cast on "Switched at Birth," ABC provided the funds for the equipment. "I'm so, so thankful to have them, but sometimes they don't work. Sometimes they don't really do a whole lot for me."
Daphne's friend Emmett is played by Sean Berdy, who, like his character, is deaf. "In the casting breakdown, I had written that I wanted deaf James Dean," says creator Lizzy Weiss. "I think we found him."
"I was born deaf," Berdy signs, using an interpreter for EPK interviews. "I was raised in a hearing world and in a deaf world at the same time. I can't say that I like one better than I like the other. I like them both. I speak pretty well; I gesture. If I don't understand something, you know, pen and paper, texting. I use it all."
Berdy says that he was impressed with the way that deaf culture was handled in the pilot script. "Little things, like how to communicate with hearing people, like the environment of a deaf school and how that functions," he says. "Exactly like my life. It was definitely one of a kind."
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Wowwwwwww Sean Berdy is a stunningly gorgeous guy. He was definitely one of the standouts of the pilot last week!
Love this show! I enjoy watching Sean and Katie the most, as that world is something we don't see on TV everyday. I myself have meniere's disease and for the reason Katie explained, that the hearing aids don't work all the time, is why I haven't gotten them - as I experience the roaring far too often. It is kind of like the radio, if all you hear is static, no matter how loud you turn it up, you are still just going to hear static.
Why wasn't LeClerc's video captioned?
Rae, it was not captioned because her words are understandable because she's not always deaf. Duh!
WOW! You're talking about/with deaf people and you still said "hearing impaired"!!! That is rather rude! People in the deaf community prefer "Deaf" or "Hard of Hearing". I'd know!
I love the show switched at birth, Its like my number one favorite show on television. The thing that i like about this show is that i love the story line and the characters in the show, i wish i could meet all of you, i really want to learn sign language but i want to learn sign language from someone who has been using it for a long time..
Ever since i started watching Switched at birth i started to feel like i wanted to do something to help deaf kids around the world but i dont know what its like to be deaf so i dont think i can do much to help.
you guys are doing a great job on the show and i cant wait to see more of switched at birth.
~~ Violet ~~
I love the show switched at birth, Its like my number one favorite show on television. The thing that i like about this
show is that i love the story line and the characters in the show, i wish i could meet all of you, i really want to
learn sign language but i want to learn sign language from someone who has been using it for a long time..
Ever since i started watching Switched at birth i started to feel like i wanted to do something to help deaf kids
around the world but i dont know what its like to be deaf so i dont think i can do much to help. you guys are doing
great job on the show and i cant wait to see more of switched at birth.
~~ Violet ~~
I totally agree that Sean Berdy is sooo cute!! And ya, we do prefer Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Hearing Impaired makes us sound broken, and we are not broken, for the most part... Haha, love making light of the situation! Normally it annoys the crap out of me when they say things about Deaf people and the Deaf culture, but they did a pretty bomb job!!! love from one of them,
Kelalani
One more thing. Umn, "Lala" i think Rae wanted close captions so she could read along because maybe she is Deaf!! Make sense now?
I love this series already! I wish I could meet Katie and Sean... I wear hearing aids and I am progressively losing all my hearing, and I am only 16. Bummer but it will all work out in the end :)