'Eternals' star Lauren Ridloff wants to see captions in movie theater films become the norm: 'There's no harm in adding subtitles'

• "Eternals" star Lauren Ridloff hopes captions become the norm in movie theaters one day.
• The actress told Insider that subtitles benefit everyone no matter their ability.

Accessibility is getting better in movie theaters, but "Eternals" star Lauren Ridloff said there's still more work to be done.

In October, AMC CEO Adam Aron announced AMC theaters will start permanently offering open caption screenings in an effort to be more accessible to the deaf community and audiences where English may not be the first language.

Ridloff, a deaf actress who is next appearing as a superhero in Marvel's "Eternals," told Insider she's "thrilled" by the progress at some locations, but theaters still have a way to go.

"It is a step forward," Ridloff said of AMC's recent changes. "I don't think that we're there yet, but I would love to see captioning and subtitles really become the norm. I think that subtitles benefit everyone: deaf, hard of hearing, hearing."

Ridloff has a point.

During the world premiere of "Eternals," which Insider attended on October 18, captions appeared onscreen anytime Ridloff's character Makkari or another character communicated in sign language.

The onscreen captions helped show the spellings of tough-to-pronounce characters called Celestials, which we wouldn't have known otherwise unless we reached out to Disney or tried to verify as the credits rolled.

"Exactly! And how you spell their name; you can see it right on the screen," Ridloff said of how onscreen captions aid everyone's viewing experience.

Ridloff has had conversations with Disney and Marvel about subtitling films since joining the MCU.

In "Eternals," Ridloff plays the fastest woman in the universe, Makkari, who can run faster than the speed of sound. When she takes off, Makkari generates a sonic boom, something that doesn't affect her as the only deaf Eternal.

When entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a role Ridloff was approached to play, the actress had discussions with Disney and Marvel about subtitling movies.

"It's been an ongoing conversation since I've joined and they are aware of how important it is to subtitle, how important subtitling is to me, and to the deaf community," Ridloff said.

"I am really proud of how accessible the premiere was. We had interpreters floating, ready for any deaf and hard of hearing audience viewers to participate," Ridloff said of the film's premiere in Hollywood last month.

Now, open caption screening efforts for 'Eternals' are underway.

Thankfully, there are several efforts to increase open caption screenings around the US thanks to movie theater owners and nonprofits filling in the gap.

According to AMC Theatres' website, 35 states (plus Washington, DC) offer open caption screenings at 240 different locations, so far.

On Regal Cinemas' website, nine theaters across five states, plus DC, currently offer open caption screenings. Closed captions, where viewers can receive either cup holder units or glasses that project captions depending on the location, are available in every state.

Ridloff, however, told The New York Times back in September that such devices are "a headache because most of the time the devices don't work."

A month later, she told Insider that movie theaters "just need to be more willing to turn the subtitles on whenever someone shows up and asks for them whenever they ask for that accessibility."

Nonprofits are helping theaters meet that need.

Gold House, which seeks authentic representation on screen, launched a fundraiser to provide more open caption screenings for the "Eternals" release. The Ontario Association of the Deaf also recently partnered with Walt Disney Studio Canada for an early screening of "Eternals" with open captions.

Also starring Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, and Gemma Chan, "Eternals" is in theaters on November 5. You can read our review here.