In our ideal world, a deaf woman can both portray a FBI agent and a Superhero, and it has become realistic on NBC television.

The T.V. show that appeals to both the deaf and hearing worlds in creating a bridge where a deaf person can do anything and work with hearing people, is “Heroes.”

Heroes is a science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006.

Hollywood Actress Deanne Bray, who is deaf and has played Sue Thomas in PAX TV’s F.B.Eye television show, is now a “fascinating and powerful Superhero,” as NBC TV show creator of Heroes Tim Kring describes, and the Superhero’s name is “Emma.”

She is the latest Superhero of the intriguing NBC show “Heroes,” she will be in episodes 4, 5, and 6, with the Heroes writers furiously scripting for a couple episodes more.

With Bray saying “She’s having a blast with Heroes, the writers created a character (Emma) that she fell in love with,” that will be a testimony to her talent for portraying characters, both non-fiction and fictitious, because she works well with the writers in creating characters we can identify with.

Actress Bray said, “I was fortunate to have worked with writers who had an open mind and heart in bringing Deaf culture in the show.”

“They sometimes surprise me with new characters they develop on their own that is genuine and they look at Deaf individuals as everyday people.”

The blond haired seasoned actress with enough spunk to depict a Superhero said, “I hope Emma will work out for Heroes so that maybe eventually the writers will be inspired to develop scenes with other Deaf characters to interact with Emma and other Heroes.”

Maybe a savvy deaf kid who gapes in admiration as “Emma” bedazzles him on one of her acts of heroism? Or a legendary deaf actor who, with his hand shaking, frantically dials up his videophone to summon “Emma.”

This we know, whatever the writers concoct, will be exactly what we envisioned and much more.

“With the tools I learned and grew from F.B.Eye,” she says, “I hope to bring that and share with the Heroes. The Heroes team knows that they cannot please every community, the Deaf/deaf/hard-of-hearing communities, but so far from the vibes and talks I had with them are very good.”

As Bray says, they are sensitive to make sure they do the steps right in giving equal access to me as an actress and character including the other characters on the show through their writing and breaking down communication barriers on the set.

Signed Bray, “I have an interpreter and ASL consultants for signing scenes for the directors and editors.” The crew and cast tends to look at her for eye contact when they communicate with her.

With Emma, she is a mysterious character with a spark in her personality.

With Bray almost manifesting into Emma, she said, “I say mysterious because she has forgotten to “connect” with people and has cut herself off from both worlds: Deaf and Hearing worlds. She still goes to work and so on but doesn’t have any interest in interacting with people.”

“Why? We will eventually find out,” Bray speculated. With that said, we only need to tune into the NBC show “Heroes” this September (2009) to see why and how the writers creatively add the remaining episodes she will be starring in.

Recently the Heroes team bought an FM system/boot for her hearing aid from the company HEARx so she can hear the music at her Decibel level to play the instrument.

“I experimented with the device for the director from London, U.K., SJ Clarkson, to speak into when giving me specific directions while I had to “see” the special effects. However, SJ liked using the interpreter on set to give me notes or communicate with me,” the satisfied actress said.

“We’d rehearse, try out the beats or make the scene more smooth before the shoot. The FM system is really for the music.”

It may be for her hearing aid, or the background music, or ultimately for Emma to reconnect to both worlds.

Not just the hearing world, but the deaf world too.

Digging deeper into the world of Deanna Bray the Superhero to be, DeafNation asked her what was her greatest experience in acting as Emma. Without a pause, she answered, “I get to learn how to read music and learn how to play.”

Now not only the D-PAN rock n’ roller or the deaf band Beethoven’s Nightmare can, but Bray herself will add to her acting skills the ability to do what musicians can do despite her deafness.

In Hollywood actress Kate Winslet, who twice paired up with Leonardo DiCaprio in movies, is one of the female actresses Bray looks up to besides deaf actress Freda Norman, because they inspire her to “stay focused with her character in continuing to find details to paint her character with and bring it to life,” due to the fact they are deep into their characters.

Let’s see how Bray brings to life the Deaf Superhero Emma in Heroes.

After she auditioned for her role as “Emma,” she asked one of the producers of “Heroes” Dennis Hammer a profound question on what exactly what they were looking for, “Is Emma hard of hearing or Deaf or the small “d,” and Hammer replied, “It depends on the actress we hire.”

Bray smiled and said, “Good answer.”

“They were way ahead of the game and sensitive to the Deaf/deaf/hard-of-hearing communities and knew the differences,” said the actress in a matter-of-fact manner.

“Finally Hollywood is beginning to understand.”