Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1486263
74 SAG-AFTRA | Fall/Winter 2022 | sagaftra.org not a big pool, and I was like, "Good luck!" [laughs] So he hired Angelique Midthunder, who's a wonderful casting director, and they took Rene Haynes [casting director for Prey] and went out across the country and set up auditions, and they found some wonderfully talented people. Working with these kids is just a dream, and being on the set with them and watching them grow is a wonderful thing to see. It's funny, you can find these actors who've never worked before and they're just naturals — like Paulina Alexa. There's a lot of Native talent out there that hasn't been discovered yet. Are your young co-stars as excited to be in the union as you were? z: Definitely. You know, the actors I work with now have the opportunity to tap into those good health insurance benefits and they have their retirement plans they can look forward to in the future. A few of these actors are pretty rural people, and they have access to these beautiful benefits that the union gives us, and I think it's very important to them in their lives. It's a good thing, the union and its protections. I wouldn't know what to do without my health insurance. SAG-AFTRA is always watching out for us! Many new projects are showcasing new Indigenous talent and spotlighting seasoned actors. z: Absolutely. It's a wonderful time right now, a very unique time. I've been doing this for a few decades, and I'm very happy. I'm not just seeing more representation, but also Natives being able to control their own narrative stories and producers who are educating themselves and hiring the proper consultants, and, you know, being open to the ideas of the writers and the actors. I'm glad I'm a part of it. Is Hollywood more open to casting indigenous actors in a variety of roles now than in the past? z: Yes, I think it's opening up quite a bit more for actors to get roles that they're just right for or just talented enough to do, not just because of their ethnicity. We all get pigeonholed as actors, obviously, and I'm not complaining about it. I like to work, and if it's a Native role, I'm happy to be Native American, but, yeah, I'd like to be looked at as an actor first. These young kids coming up in the business definitely want to be cast as many different things. Is there a particular Indigenous story you'd like to see that hasn't been done yet? z: One I'd love to see is a story on [Lakota activist and writer] Mary Crow Dog in the 1970s — and a better or truer story about what happened with the American Indian Movement in South Dakota, the 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation. I'd also like to see historical films and programs from a Native perspective, and always more contemporary stuff. As for contemporary, considering we have a Native American Secretary of the Interior, why not a story about the first Native American president? z: Right on! A Native American president would be awesome! Count me in. ● Above from left, Jeffrey Donovan, Angus Sampson, Allan Dobrescu and Zahn McClarnon, Fargo (2015). Right, McClarnon, The Son (2017). FX NETWORK/PHOTOFEST AMC/PHOTOFEST