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Actress Dominique Fishback, renowned for her lead role in the series “Swarm” on Prime Video, starred in the newly released Transformers movie, “Rise of the Beasts.”  

The film became available in theaters on June 9 and has received a lot of press. In an insightful interview alongside her fellow cast members on IGV Presents, hosted by Simon Harkness, Fishback divulged the profound motivation behind her decision to learn American Sign Language (ASL).

During the interview, the cast engaged in a lively trivia game about one another, during which Fishback posed a true or false question to her co-stars, Anthony Ramos and Tobe Nwigwe, regarding her knowledge of sign language.

When both of them guessed incorrectly, Fishback revealed that she learned ASL during college.

Curious to learn her reasoning, Harkness inquired about Fishback’s motivation for learning sign language. In response, Fishback explained that her decision stemmed from a deep sense of empathy and connection, driven by her experiences as a Black individual.

She expressed that, similar to the deaf community, she identified with the societal barriers and the lack of effort exerted by others to comprehend her experiences.

Fishback stated, “As a Black person having to go into other areas where nobody is forced to understand where I come from, I wondered what it would be like to not be able to hear and feel like you have to kind of navigate the world and nobody else is forced to navigate with you.”

Motivated by her observation that many people choose not to make an effort to understand others simply because “they don’t have to,” Fishback embarked on her journey to learn sign language and make a meaningful difference in the lives of others to feel more understood.

During the interview, Fishback shared a heartwarming anecdote about a particular instance in which she communicated with a deaf woman using sign language during her time working at a movie theatre. She vividly recounted the immense joy and excitement that enveloped the woman upon discovering Fishback’s knowledge of ASL.

The segment of the interview featuring Fishback’s explanation for learning sign language was uploaded by IGV Presents on TikTok four days ago. Within a mere 12 hours, the video accumulated an astonishing 1.3 million views, and it has now climbed to a soaring 3.2 million views.