Lead-up to Children of a Lesser God Ridloff played a small role as a superpowered agent in the 2017 film
Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes. She also joined the production of the 2017 film
Wonderstruck as a consultant and was ultimately cast in a small role. When director
Kenny Leon began producing a revival of the 1980 play
Children of a Lesser God, he hired Ridloff to tutor him in
American Sign Language. Leon cast
Joshua Jackson as the male lead but had not cast the female lead role. By then, Ridloff had been tutoring Leon for over a year. He asked her to substitute at a
read-through early on, and based on her performance, he offered her the role as Sarah Norman. The cast had an initial run at the Berkshire Theatre Group in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts. One of the most challenging aspects of her role was using her voice, which she had not used since she was 13 years old.
The New York Times wrote, "Ms. Ridloff compares the experience of using her voice during the play to a crotch shot, saying that at first she felt exposed, and vulnerable, and ugly." After a year with the role and with a vocal coach, she found greater ease. She explained, "It feels empowering to me—like finally I own every part of myself, [but] I don't see myself ever using my voice on a conversational level—that's just not who I am." The revival premiered on Broadway in April 2018, and
The New York Times wrote, "Critics were underwhelmed by the production, but mesmerized by Ms. Ridloff." The revival was shuttered on May 27, 2018. In July 2019, Ridloff was cast in the 2021
Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film
Eternals as the superhero
Makkari, who in the comics is a hearing and white man. As part of director
Chloé Zhao's approach to broaden casting representation, the casting of Ridloff revises the character to be a deaf woman of color. The casting makes Ridloff the first deaf superhero in the MCU. To film for
Eternals, Ridloff took a leave of absence from
The Walking Dead, not appearing in six consecutive episodes of the show's tenth season. Her role in
Eternals led to an increase in web searches for American Sign Language courses. Following Ridloff's appearance in
Eternals in 2021, she re-partnered with Joshua Jackson from
Children of a Lesser God to star together in a romantic drama TV series being developed by
Ava DuVernay at the TV network
Starz. The network gave a three-season commitment to the planned series in May 2022. Ridloff was also attached as executive producer along with DuVernay and Jackson. In September 2023, Starz said that the drama series, which had started filming, would not be proceeding, following DuVernay's decision to depart after her contract with Warner Bros. TV concluded and amidst several series changes at the network. In July 2022, Ridloff was one of three deaf actors cast in an episode of the
Fox anthology drama TV series
Accused, with the episode being directed by
Marlee Matlin, and the episode aired in January 2023. ==Recognition and advocacy==