As the casting director throughout the three-season run of the breakthrough FX comedy series “Reservation Dogs” that ended in 2023, Angelique Midthunder continues to carry the vibe of someone who can’t believe she got to cast a series that was the first to fully embrace the Indigenous community on both sides of the camera. And that certainly extended to Season 3, when a middle-of-the-season flashback episode entitled “House Made of Bongs” and the series finale (called (“Dig”) in particular brought challenges and joys to her job.
“We flashed back in the fifth episode to when our beloved elder generation played by Wes Studi, Graham Greene, Casey Camp and Gary Farmer were all in high school,” Midthunder says. “Luckily I got a heads up before the season started and I was able to get my thinking cap on and get a head start because it was a big job, like casting the pilot all over again in the middle of Season 3. We had to find people that matched each established actor to play them when they were young. And then the finale episode where literally the entire cast was there for the funeral scene, including an appearance by Lily Gladstone. I made a set visit and there was just a moment for me personally where I was like, ‘Wow, we did this’.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Midthunder is also proud of what “Rez Dogs” she and creator-showrunner Sterlin Harjo were able to pull off in the season’s ninth episode, in which it’s revealed that Elora’s (Devery Jacobs) father is going to be a new character – and it’s revealed he’s white. “That was just a lot of fun because it opened up a huge (new) world to us,” she emphasizes. “That was really incredible when I got the script. I think Sterlin always had Ethan Hawke in mind for it. So it was just really fun to have that come to fruition as well. I mean, how rewarding to have someone like that on the show.”
Indeed. It also happened to be a rare instance of someone Caucasian being part of the “Reservation Dogs” universe. It was the first-ever television series to exclusive feature Native writers and directors and an entirely Indigenous North American cast as well. “From the beginning, we were a combination of people, from seasoned actors to non-actors,” Midthunder believes, “which is where the magic in the show lies anyway. It’s how we were able to keep it fresh from the start through all three seasons.”
That casting process began way back in 2019 before COVID made its appearance on the scene. The process that yielded leads Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Paulina Alexis and Lane Factor. “They were all authentically from that world,” she explains. “We hit the road and went all over Oklahoma as well as doing kind of the standard casting process, but we found Lane right there at one of the open casting calls in Oklahoma where we had hundreds of people showing up at each one. The other (regulars) were either what we call Urban Indians or came from the res life. They were just the perfect combination that embodied the kind of present-day diaspora. They all came together and really fit.”
Alexis was originally pegged by Midthunder to play the role that ultimately went to Jacobs because “it was really originally scripted as one girl and three guys that kind of ram this gang together. But Sterlin was like, ‘I love her. She’s not Elora.’ Down the line, he was like, ‘I know she’s Willie Jack.’ He was right. He always had something up his sleeve that was better than you could have imagined.”
Other characters cast on the series in various guest parts and arcs were found over social media as well. Throughout the casting process, Midthunder was always vigilant to keep an open mind to Native people of all kinds. “Something I often focused on was people who are interesting, people who are comfortable in their own skin who can disappear into a role,” she notes. “And again, it wasn’t always actors. Sometimes we got people who popped into our show and we never saw them again on another show because they weren’t trained actors and weren’t trying to be actors. But man, they made great characters on our show. It was just super rewarding to be a part of it, and I’m really thrilled and grateful. It’s kind of the thing I’d proudest of in my career.”
All three seasons of “Reservation Dogs” from FX stream on Hulu.
PREDICT the 2024 Emmy nominees through July 17
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
