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Black\u00a0Rabbit<\/em>, the new Netflix crime drama miniseries starring Jason Bateman<\/strong> and Jude Law<\/strong>, has already become a hit with audiences since it premiered on Sept. 18. And the success is in no small part thanks to deaf actor Troy Kotsur<\/strong>, who is a formidable and terrifying onscreen presence as New York City loan shark Joe Mancuso.<\/p>\n Kotsur recently spoke with Today<\/a> about the role and explained why he actually developed \u201cstreet sign language\u201d to give his\u00a0Black Rabbit<\/a><\/em> character authenticity.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, when I got the script I started reading it, and you know how New Yorkers talk with an accent that is slang?\u201d the 57-year-old actor shared. \u201cAnd so now my hands are doing the accent. So I really wanted to play around with my signs. Most of the time I\u2019m right-handed, I would sign with one hand. So imagine I\u2019m holding a gun in my left hand. And so I have a gun on my lap and I can just sign with my right hand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so imagine, for many years, you\u2019re hanging out with all these criminals and you have to hold a gun a lot,\u201d he continued. You get in that habit of signing with one hand and so I really had fun developing this character and really adding some flavors and salt and pepper to this character.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the most importantly, remember don\u2019t screw with the deaf guy,\u201d Kotsur quipped.<\/p>\n Black Rabbit<\/em> is set in the seedy underside of the downtown New York restaurant scene, starring Bateman and Law as Vince and Jake Friedken, respectively, co-founding brothers of a Manhattan hotspot. However, when Jake lets Vince back into the fold, he invites danger into their business.<\/p>\n The co-creators of Black Rabbit<\/em>, the husband and wife team of Zach Baylin<\/strong> and Kate Susman<\/strong>, recently spoke with Esquire<\/a> and revealed that Kotsur was the only cast member that they \u201cwrote specifically toward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe met Troy when we were promoting King Richard<\/em> and he was promoting CODA<\/em>,\u201d Baylin explained. \u201cWe spent a lot of nights out together. Troy is really fun, incredibly charismatic, and powerful. When we were talking to him, we were like, \u2018What do you want to do next?\u201d He said, \u2018I really want to play a bad guy.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo we just sort of had that in our back pocket for a long time,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhen we were in the writers room and talking about who Mancuso would be, we were like, \u2018He\u2019ll be deaf and he\u2019ll have a CODA son. We have to offer it to Troy.’\u201d<\/p>\n Suffice to say, the gamble really paid off, as Kotsur does indeed make a great villain. You can watch the trailer, here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n