Chaske Spencer Interview Wild Indian

Chaske Spencer Interview: Wild Indian

Wild Indian star Chaske Spencer chats about the complicated history of the film’s characters and new doors opening for Indigenous storytelling.

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Chaske Spencer Interview Wild Indian

Wild Indian, currently out on digital and on demand platforms, is a tale of intergenerational trauma that speaks a universal language despite its specific setting. The film opens on a Native American reservation in the 80s and follows two Anishinaabe boys whose lives are altered in a flash after a sudden and shockingly violent encounter. When the story picks up, many years have passed and the location has changed, but the scars left behind have not faded.

Chaske Spencer (who played Jace Montero in Jessica Jones) stars as Teddo, who reappears in the seemingly blessed life of his childhood friend Makwa (Michael Greyeyes, Home Before Dark). Desperately clinging to the new world he has built for himself, which includes a wife played by Kate Bosworth (Before I Wake) and boss portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg (Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Makwa is not ready to confront the secrets of their shared past.

Spencer spoke to Screen Rant about collaborating with director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. on his feature film debut, fully inhabiting his character, and reveling in the opportunities afforded as doors open for more works produced by Native creators.

Chaske Spencer Interview Wild Indian

Screen Rant: How did this project first come to you, and what spoke to you about that script?

Chaske Spencer: Lyle, the director, invited me to workshop it at the Sundance Directors Lab, and we worked through the script. He was learning how to work with actors and also work through his own script and fine-tune it. That’s how I got involved because he invited me to come to participate in playing those two characters. I got to know Lyle, we got to work together, and then I was attached. I just sat on it and waited for when we could get enough money to start filming.

What attracted me to it was the script itself. It’s been said, and it is true there’s a bit of a Cain and Abel story to it. But also, if you look at it a different way, it looks like the two voices of one person fighting against each other. That’s what really drew me to it because it’s pretty rare that a script like that comes across your lap – at least in my career – and it was really rich in character.

I said yes right away and just waited it out until we could film.

As this was Lyle’s feature film debut, what was it like to collaborate with him?

Chaske Spencer: I’ve worked with several first-time directors and there’s a lot of pressure on them. It’s their first feature, and they’re busy with a thousand different other things. One of the things I can do to make their job better is to come in really prepared. And that’s what I did.

I was attached to the script for a good year, so I started researching it right away and started working on the physicality of the character. By the time we got there, I hope I made Lyle’s job easier. When Michael and I came in, we were well-prepared and just ready to go.

He gave us some direction on how he wanted it to go, and we had rehearsed it before, so I kind of knew what he wanted. He was very quick with tapes and stuff, and it was just about allowing him the freedom and the room to direct.

I love what you said about the Cain and Abel nature of the characters, which is also woven into the script in a really nice way. Based on the description, I thought the flashbacks would go one way and then was surprised by how the beginning actually played out. How would you describe Teddo and his side of the story?

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Chaske Spencer: I think he was a good kid that was traumatized by the event, and I don’t think he really coped with it. I don’t think he had the access to have that. In his head, without giving too much away, they killed someone. And being at that young age, I can’t even imagine what that does to a child’s brain.

What I felt is that his journey was that of trauma and guilt, which made him turn inward. And I think that’s where he went down the wrong path in life, which people do; that’s how some people deal with trauma. That was his journey. And that’s what attracted me to it because when I read the script, it’s not how I thought it would turn out either. It was a lot for an actor to get a hold of, and there were a lot of areas I could explore.

In terms of all that trauma and guilt in the intervening years, did you have a lot of discussions with Lyle or Michael about what happened to each of you, or did you pull from the script?

Chaske Spencer: I just pulled from the script, and I wrote my story. Lyle helped out with some backstory and gave me some clues and doors to open when it comes to accessing Teddo. I believe he said in interviews that it’s based on several people he’s known in his life, and I have known Teddos in my life as well. I pulled that character from those people that I’ve been lucky to have known.

When it came to preparation, it was a lot of just dealing with the trauma of being outside a facility where you had no freedom. When I was doing my research about people who got out of prison, especially solitary confinement, it’s focused on the noise. It’s being around people. He walked onto a whole different planet, and that’s what I wanted to convey and show the audience. Teddo may be free but, in his mind, he’s not.

It was very fascinating to see that juxtaposition of noise and silence in his character because there’s so much that’s conveyed through silence as much as dialogue for him. What is that like for you as an actor, to express his story on every level, physically and otherwise?

Chaske Spencer: I love silence I think you can convey more in silence than you can with dialogue – not all the time, but in certain cases and certain stories. There was this movie that came out with Robert Redford called All Is Lost, where his boat gets stranded. He has maybe three lines in the whole film, and I thought that was great. It was such a wonderful and just staggering performance.

You can give a lot away with silence. And I enjoyed it; I embraced it. Because you can convey a lot with your body, your behavior, and your eyes. You touch on those emotions, and the audience can read them. The audience isn’t stupid. They’re smart, and they get it.

What scene would you say was most memorable for you? Not necessarily with spoilers, but which moment really stuck with you afterward?

Chaske Spencer: I would say the confrontation scene with Makwa and Teddo. That’s the scene I rehearsed at Sundance too and I couldn’t wait to do the scene with Michael. We had a really fun time on that.

It’s a heavy movie and, sometimes, you can stay in that neighborhood to keep an essence of that for the character and for the camera. But sometimes, it just gets too heavy. You can laugh and joke around between takes, and we did a little bit of that. We were armed with the script and the situation that the characters were going through, but sometimes a good heavy monster of a scene can be really fun. And that’s one of the scenes I really enjoyed working on with Michael and Lyle.

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From the outside looking in, it feels like recent years have seen an increase in access to Native or Indigenous stories. They’re getting a more well-deserved spotlight, and doors are opening in general. As someone working in the industry, what changes are you seeing and what further changes do you hope to see?

Chaske Spencer: I think it’s that we’re starting to produce our own work and starting to have people in the producers’ chair and writers’ rooms. We’re seeing that more. Sterlin Harjo just won a bunch of awards for Reservation Dogs.

There’s been a shift. I was starting to feel a shift five years ago, and I can’t speak for my peers, but we kind of agreed that the shift started happening then: going into rooms and auditioning for roles that weren’t specifically for Native Americans at all. Being able to play a role like I did on Blindspot, where the character wasn’t even Native; it’s just a guy.

I think the audience and culture is now willing to accept that, instead of putting us in a story where we’re the stereotypical Native American; the medicine man or the drunk Indian, or just the same thing Hollywood’s been pumping out. With the acceptance of different stories and different avenues to tell these stories, the doors have been open for a few years now. But I think the audience has now finally seen it.

I don’t know if the pandemic has anything to do with it, but I think when you’re stuck in your home and all you have is Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other streaming services, you start exploring different movies from different countries. The silver line of that is you can explore different cultures and films that are not from your home country, and you walk away with something. You learn something.

You’re going to be in The English with Emily Blunt. What has that experience been like for you, and what are you most looking forward to when it comes out?

Chaske Spencer: I’m really looking forward to seeing it. I’m honored to be working with Hugo Blick, who’s a very respected director and very high caliber. I really am excited for the audience to see what he’s done with this Western genre.

What attracted me to that was that it’s a throwback to the films of the 60s and 70s. I was a big fan of The Man with No Name trilogy, Fistful of Dollars, Once Upon a Time in the West, and stories like that when I was a kid. I’ve always wanted to play a character like that, so that’s what I was really turned on to with The English.

Emily Blunt’s great. She’s a wonderful person; a very genuine and down-to-earth person. I can’t wait for people to see it, and one of the things I’m really looking forward to the audience seeing is probably just the horse-riding scenes and the action. People really will enjoy the action.

What other roles or genres are you most excited to venture into?

Chaske Spencer: There’s so many. As I go through my career as an actor and a journeyman, I never really try to look at something as a genre. It’s just a gig to me. It’s like going in and dancing with other musicians. Whatever gig opens up? If it speaks to me, challenges me, and scares me, that’s something that I lean towards. If I start going, “I don’t know if I can do this,” then I might as well do it.

You always have to keep stretching and keep exploring. You always have to keep evolving – and knock on wood that more roles will come where I can do that.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/wild-indian-movie-chaske-spencer-interview/

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