NPR

With 'Deaf U,' Nyle DiMarco Strives To Show 'There Is No One Right Way To Be Deaf'

The model and activist, who himself is deaf, says his new Netflix reality show offers "an entrance into our world, which is so rich in culture and so layered and diverse."
Nyle DiMarco attends the premiere of "A Quiet Place Part II" at Lincoln Center on March 8, 2020 in New York. In his new Netflix series <em>Deaf U</em>, DiMarco turns the camera on students at Gallaudet University.

When Nyle DiMarco got his start in reality television competing on America's Next Top Model in 2015, he quickly understood the identity producers were creating for him.

DiMarco is stunningly handsome, with piercing eyes and a penchant for acting. He's also deaf — a fact that, in the eyes of television producers, seemed to override everything else.

"I always felt that the image that was kind of made of me onscreen was very one-dimensional," he says. "I was always asked specifically about my deafness, about

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