After making his Broadway debut in a 2003 revival of Big River, Kotsur's performance in a 2012 production of Cyrano earned him a nomination for the Ovation Award for Best Actor in a Play. He directed and starred in the film No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie (2013) and gained wider attention with his guest role in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian (2019). Kotsur's portrayal of a deaf father in the comedy drama film CODA (2021) was critically acclaimed and won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first male deaf actor, and second overall (after Marlee Matlin) to win an acting Oscar.