Interview: Devery Jacobs On How ‘Reservation Dogs’ Is Much Bigger Than A TV Series

Often when I meet someone whose work I admire, I am in awe of what they put into it. For Devery Jacobs, who plays Elora Danan on FX’s series Reservation Dogs, that admiration starts with what she does in front of the camera. Over the course of three seasons the actress has delivered a character who has guided viewers through an emotional journey while making us laugh, cry and want to reach out to giver her a hug.

As for her work as Elora, in addition to the challenges of growing up, she did so in a parentless household after and after losing a close friend to suicide. And if you’re wondering, yes, this is a comedy series, but one that never takes the easy path nor follows the beat of anything before it. Jacobs’ work extends into the writers’ room for season two and three, then behind the camera to direct an episode of the series. My admiration for her as an artist multiplied exponentially.

Jacobs sat down for an episode of TV Topics which was truly one of my favorites yet. During the conversation not only do you learn about her performance as Elora and all that she pours into the character, but also about how this role means so much to her. When early on in the conversation she went through her email to find the original character pitch email for Elora, I knew this was more than just any role for Jacobs. The power of this role and series extends well beyond the screen, it means so much to so many and continues to push open a door for Native people that had once been held shut.

Be sure to listen to the full conversation below where we discuss her start on the series, the emotional final day of shooting, her work in front and behind the camera such as how she wrote the episode that had her character meeting her father for the first time and the real life places she pulled from to do so. It is a fascinating conversation that will make you appreciate the art and the artist even more than before. With each answer after I was increasingly confident in my decision to give her the ‘spotlight pick’ in my annual Emmy FYC piece.

We also have some fun with TV Topics questions, some answers of which were just as revealing as anything learned while discussing the series. Fans of Jacobs’ work, the series and TV in general will surely enjoy it.

Below are some excerpts from the above conversation:

Do you remember the character pitch for Elora?

“That’s a good question actually. I wonder if I have the casting, I must still have the casting breakdown in my emails. I’m gonna look it up if you don’t mind. (scrolls through phone)

Just like for myself, I’m really curious. I mean, I would imagine I’ll be scrolling forever. Anyways, I might not have time for that because I’ve had like thousands on thousands of emails.

I remember reading the breakdown for Elora Danan and feeling like I really connected with Eora Danan, that there was so much that I could bring to her that I knew I was a little bit older than my character. I was already friends with Sterlin Harjo. We had known each other from around the film scene, he had seen some of my work as a writer, as a director of short films, as an actor.

I don’t know that I was like fully offered the role, I kind of had to scrap for it and fight for it. And then I was able to show that this was a role that I was right for. And oh, I do it have it here. I have it. It’s actually such a tiny description. It’s so short.

Elora Danan: Native American female to play age. I’m not gonna say what age. She’s a tough spirited and saucy tomboy who can hold her own with the boys and then some. Series regular.

So I think there was more that we ended up uncovering and learning. I thought originally Elora Danan was supposed to be more like Willie Jack’s character in her personal style and knowing Rez girls growing up where it’s like you have the Rez bikini, which is like a tank top and super sized basketball shorts.

That’s what I thought Elora Danan would be going into it. Then I think I quickly learned that the character was kind of modeled after Sterling Harjo, the showrunner’s daughter, who was a teen at the time. She’s now become like a poet laureate and is really incredible and an artist in her own right, but definitely has more of that edge to her.

And Sterling had her when she when he was really young. And so I saw some of that influence. I definitely brought a lot of myself into there. I think we shaped Elora Danan together.”

Is there something that connected with you early on?

I knew the world really well. I grew up in that space where it’s so communal. I was a Rez girl growing up, I saw Rez girls surrounding me. And there was also I think Elora being the source of conflict for the relationship with Bear a lot of the time and them going head to head. I knew that the character wouldn’t necessarily be the most liked, especially off the bat, especially before we get to know who she is and what she’s been through, which have shaped so much of her experience, especially finding Daniel and her relationship with her mom. Like there’s a lot of drama with Elora.

That’s where I love to live as an actor. I love comedy. And I think it’s so great. But I feel like my strength is definitely in drama. And yeah, I think those elements and having hints of who this moody teenager Elora Danan is was the aspect of her that I was most drawn to.

RESERVATION DOGS —“Elora’s Dad” — Season 3, Episode 9 (Airs Wednesday, September 20th) Pictured: Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan. CR: Shane Brown/FX.

So you’re an actress, writer, director on the series. What did being in the writer’s room allow you to bring to Elora?

I would hope that I was able to bring a lot to each of the characters. A lot of the time I was making sure that I was really focused on the story. It feels like a different part of my brain, where I’m like one gear as a writer, and then the other gear is as an actor.

And it feels like I really have to put a different hat on in that space. Tommy Pico, one of the writers in ResDogs, had paid me a compliment that really meant a lot to me, which was that he appreciated that I had always focused on story. And that I wasn’t just like an actor who was trying to get more scenes or anything like that.

If anything, I was giving storylines away to other characters, because I felt like, oh, this doesn’t make sense for Elora. It would actually be Jackie that is going through this, or this would happen to Cheese. And yeah, I had hoped to write for other characters in their specific episodes, but Sterlin had always kind of brought it back to Elora for me, which I’m also grateful for in another way.

In season one, I had come to Sterlin with a lot of questions and a lot of curiosities and input on Elora and where she’s at. So much so that when I had asked to be in the writer’s room for season two, that he welcomed me in with open arms. I was so passionate about certain storylines that he ended up having me write them. And that was for Mabel in season two, and then Elora’s dad in season three.

One of my favorite episodes of TV this year was episode nine, Elora’s Dad. It was amazing. And then I found out you wrote it. Can you talk a little bit about that episode and what it meant to you?

That episode was definitely really personal. I have two Mohawk parents. I was raised in my community, but my mom is mixed. And she didn’t meet her white dad until she was grown. And even then it was by accident. And so there were definitely personal inspirations and moments in Elora’s Dad that I had drawn from my own family story from.

We also knew Sterlin had worked with Ethan Hawke before and wanted him to play Rick. And so that was always kept in mind and was actually used as inspiration when writing the episode. Sterlin wanted to make sure that it was paying homage to the Before Sunrise trilogy in that we’re with two people, it’s happening in real time.

It’s like Mumblecore before Mumblecore was a thing. And definitely like sitting with these characters, which we haven’t had a chance to do before in the series, I think with being in an ensemble cast and doing these flashbacks and different moments, like we’ve done everything under the sun when it comes to Rez Nogs, except for that. And so this was a really special moment of getting to just play and sit with these estranged people where it’s so loaded and so charged between them.

There’s so much longing and there’s also so much hurt. And at the end of the day, he was kind of just a shit ass dad, but isn’t actually a bad dude. And so how do you sit with that? So there was a lot that went into it. And also with Sterlin and his experience of being a young dad with his daughter, who I’d mentioned, who had almost kind of shaped Elora. So it was really a coming together.

I was so grateful that Ethan Hawke had availability in his schedule to make time for Rez Dogs. But yeah, there was a lot of each of our personal stories infused into that episode.

RESERVATION DOGS —“Elora’s Dad”—Season 3, Episode 9 (Airs Wednesday, September 20th) Pictured: (l-r) Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan, Ethan Hawke as Rick. CR: Shane Brown/FX.

When you leave set that final day, this is a beginning and an end – a beginning for you, you’re gonna take on new things, but an end of this chapter. What was that experience for you?

It felt like all through that day, it felt like the last day of high school, where you know that everybody’s going to be separating and going on and doing other things, but you’re always going to remember that forever, but times 1000. And so I think I was just soaking it all in and taking in every single moment of that. The drive home, I listened to a soundtrack from… or not the soundtrack… Sterlin would make these playlists every season of music that was inspiring him or that he wanted to have in the episodes, it was really music forward.

So I put on the playlist for Rez Dog season one, on the drive home and I was crying the whole time. And I kept having to be like, ‘Okay, I need to focus on the road because it’s actually dangerous in the middle of the night. I can’t be like sobbing on the highway.’ But it was really emotional. I just felt like I was untethering Elora Dannen from my skin and that I was letting go of this story and giving it back to Indian country.

So as you come to the end of the Reservation Dogs journey, what will stick with you most?

I don’t know. It’s so big. And it’s so all encompassing that like, I don’t know if I could reduce it to one specific thing. I think yes, it’s a television show. Yes, we are actors. Yes, we were telling a story.

But it feels so much bigger than that. It feels like we have really poured our everything into this story and that we’ve given it to our communities like all of our hearts are in it. And it’s for Kahnawake. It’s for the Muscogee Nation. It’s for Indian country. It’s for our communities.

And the stories that we needed to see when we were young and stories that people are only getting access to now. I would just say it feels like it’s so much bigger than just a television series. And whether or not we get nominations or what not is kind of, I mean, don’t get me wrong, it would be great , but it’s also a bit irrelevant because this feels like it’s even bigger than a TV series.

Resevervation Dogs and all Devery’s incredible work in it can be watched exclusively streaming on Hulu.

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Interview: Devery Jacobs On How ‘Reservation Dogs’ Is Much Bigger Than A TV Series

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