By Kelly Malone

Sask. Aboriginal actor supports Native Americans who walked off set

Apr 24, 2015 | 5:31 PM

It’s not easy for Aboriginal actors to get cast in good roles but Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company’s Daniel Knight said it’s time for Hollywood to stop using offensive indigenous characters.

On Wednesday about a dozen Native actors, actresses, and the Native cultural advisor left the set of Adam Sandler’s newest film production. They said the satirical western called ‘The Ridiculous Six’ was insulting to native women and elders and misrepresented Apache culture.

“I was proud they walked off set. That the money and all of that and Hollywood didn’t make them forgo their values,” Knight said, adding the script seemed very offensive.

“Some of the names, when I first read them, I was like ‘whoa!’ Like Beaver Breath and what they had them doing, like peeing while smoking the peace pipe, I was like ‘whoa!’”

By Thursday it was reported that nine of the actors had quit the production because their concerns were ignored by producers. 

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Knight said it’s not surprising that an Adam Sandler movie would be offensive but that doesn’t make it okay.

“It’s super disrespectful on my traditional side… and then it’s kind of dangerous too in a sense,” he said.

“If someone who didn’t have any knowledge of the aboriginal identity and the indigenous identity went and saw this movie, they would probably laugh at the jokes because it’s stupid and stuff like that. Then they would come back with the wrong view and they wouldn’t have the knowledge to combat all the negative viewpoints and stereotypes that are coming out of this movie.”

Knight said it’s not about asking the movie production to end, Aboriginal actors and actresses are being asked to be treated with respect, including for their culture. That’s an issue when roles offered to Aboriginal people are often set in the Old West.

“As for the roles that come out, or the stories that come out for the indigenous in Hollywood, it’s always the western, post contact… Those are the stories they are interested in telling and those stories are always the same,” he said.

With the recent casting of well known First Nation’s actor Adam Beach as a super villain in the DC Comic’s movie Suicide Squad, Knight said there’s finally some progress towards diverse roles.

“How often is that going to happen? We can’t tell right now if things are getting better because of that, but I know I’m happy that he is that. A little jealous too because I’m an actor and I want to be that,” Knight said with a laugh, adding a super villain or Samurai character would be a dream role.

Knight said he doesn’t even mind playing the more typical role of the indigenous person in a western film if producers consider real Aboriginal history and culture. He’s optimistic that his audition on Saturday for the new HBO mini-series will showcase that type of character.

“Because I have an understanding …  I was born indigenous, I have indigenous parents, I am steeped in the history and the political climate there,” he said.

HBO is looking for actors in Saskatoon for a mini-series produced by Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks. The series “Lewis and Clark” will follow the American explorers on their 1803 expedition.
 
Casting directors are looking for First Nations men, women and children of all ages. Horseback riding experience is an asset.
 
The casting call is this Saturday at the Saskatoon Inn from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @KellyGerMalone