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Hopefully, we can do a spinoff!
This interview, conducted prior to the SAG strike, has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Were gonna write it like it is, and just wanted to let you all know.
Good thing he did that because it made me appreciate and enjoy my time with everybody even more.
Like, I love everybody.
Its like a big family.
And just knowing that Im not going to work with them that much longer was so sad.
But also, I do understand that its better that we end the show on our own terms.
Lets talk about that a little.
Its such an interesting window into who Willie Jack already is, and the person shes going to become.
You got to be young and dumb to be old and wise, right?
And thats really how most of us Native people are.
Like, we have our humor and all that.
So, Willie Jack is going to be a medicine woman.
She already has this great bedside manner that she takes with her everywhere she goes.
This was April 16.
I felt embarrassed because I was crying.
So what Willie Jack went through, I also went through in real life.
And that made me cry.
Out ofallthe songs, the one they picked for my episode was the song that she left.
It was such a coincidence.
Thats terrible, Im so sorry.Thank you.
Thats how real the show is, down to a tee.
Its so real, and this was the first time its ever been done.
Now youve got all these kids who werent really on anything I was nobody beforeRez Dogs.
Hes like, always following them around.
Hes kind of like the butt of the joke and the dry, funny one.
That was the only description for Willie Jack.
Im proud of my audition I was so excited.
I was so pumped for this.
When I first got it, I felt like Oh, my God,Taika!
This is whenJoJo Rabbitjust came out, and hed won an Oscar for it.
So I was, like, in my fangirl phase with Taika Waititi, with Sterlin as well.
Id watched his videos as a kid from his Native film group,the 1491s.
I was so starstruck to meet them.
But we made them all laugh!
So yeah, I was just kind of winging it.
And just be the one for someone to lean on.
Im pretty shy, but all my family always forced me to sing because they think Im good.
But I do want to sing and hopefully drop a couple songs.
I want to direct, I want to produce, Im gonna make films.
I also want to be in action movies, like some Marvel movies.
I want to be a female Tom Cruise-slash-Jackie Chan and do my own stunts!
Im an adrenaline junkie, so I just like doing crazy things.
Horse racing keeps me grounded.
Im always gonna be racing, no matter what.
I want to produce and direct, too.
The world is your oyster!
Did you say you ride horses?
You do that competitively?Yeah, I doLady Warrior.
Its part of Indian Relay; we race thoroughbreds bareback around a one-mile track.
Im at theCalgary Stampederight now, so Ill hopefully race tomorrow or the next day.
On the Rez, rain or shine, you still ride.
Thats the thing that I always take with me.
They watched the show and really connected with my character and that it helped change their perspective on things.
Someone even said that I saved their life.
That meant a lot to me.
Even people coming up to me telling me, Oh, you look like my daughter who passed away.
Things like that are what I take seriously.
Because its like, Wow, all of this is actually worth it.
Theres times when Ive felt like that.
And theres times I didnt want to be here, as well.
So hearing that from another person just means a lot to me.
Because the suicide rate in our Native youth is really bad.
If you or anyone you know are in crisis, call the NationalSuicidePrevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
