Three seasons, three years, 28 episodes and finally, “Reservation Dogs” has an Emmy nomination for best comedy series.
And that’s not all. The FX show, which began streaming on Hulu in 2021, received three additional nominations on Wednesday, including a best lead actor nomination for D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, who plays Bear Smallhill on the groundbreaking coming-of-age series. “Reservation Dogs” follows four Native American teens — played by Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, Lane Factor and Woon-A-Tai — who live in rural Oklahoma and deal with the aftermath of their friend’s suicide.
But as much as the series is about a group of teenagers, it’s also about the community and the elders who surround and guide them. Among the show’s recurring cast were Zahn McClarnon, Gary Farmer, Wes Studi, Lily Gladstone, Kaniehtiio Horn and many other actors of Indigenous descent who have long worked in Hollywood and in Canadian television and film. And this year’s nominations were a reflection of changes in the industry that led to a standout year for Native American representation, with actors Kali Reis of “True Detective: Night Country” and Gladstone of “Under the Bridge” also receiving honors.
Co-creator and showrunner Sterlin Harjo, who spoke to The Times on Wednesday after the Emmy nominations, said the community spirit was reflected on the show and on set, particularly when it came to filming the series finale, which is set to air in September 2023.
“The whole crew and everyone, my family and the community, was there for the last episode,” Harjo said. “It was very reflective of the episode.” [and] “Our experience was very good because there were many hugs and tears, and it was really beautiful to be all together.”
And that community lives on even now that the show has ended, in a text thread, where some Emmy conversations came up, including Woon-A-Tai's nomination. Harjo said she saw the actor very recently. “He actually stopped by my house a couple days ago; he was in Tulsa, [Okla.]“I called him and said congratulations,” Harjo said.
In this edited conversation, Harjo talked about the show’s nominations, why it was important to him to give opportunities to other Indigenous artists on “Reservation Dogs,” and how the show and its universe will live on.
Sterlin Harjo at the Emmy Awards in 2021.
(Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Hello, Sterling.CCongratulations. How do you feel about being nominated for today's show? It seems like it's been a long time coming.
It's been a crazy day. I've had nothing but texts and calls all day. And I've been working too. I forgot and I wasn't looking. [the announcement]I wasn't going to watch it anyway because we always get de-nominated. But I got like 30 messages in a row at the same time when D'Pharaoh got nominated… and they just kept coming after that, so that was cool.
How has the experience been since the series ended? Do you miss it?
At that time, in the spring, I think we all felt the absence of the show, because the last three years we've been filming or starting to film, and we'd come and all gather in Oklahoma, in Okmulgee. [this year]We are all really sorry and miss the family getting together and putting on a great show.
I admit, I cried like a baby when I saw the finale. It felt like the characters had come full circle, as they had been on a journey of self-reflection for the past three seasons. Can you tell me what it was like filming it and how you felt?
I was halfway through writing the series when I realized that that could be the ending and that it would be a good ending. And once I thought of that, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I mentioned it to everyone and they were all nervously in agreement. And then we did it. We shot that episode, it was a lot of fun. The shooting was hard that year. [But] It was something really special.
One thing I started doing in Season 1 is this practice with Native cultures where we wrap someone in a blanket. It's usually a Pendleton blanket or a Native blanket of some sort, where you honor that person by wrapping them in the blanket, thanking them. And so I started doing that. Even in the pilot, I did that with the actors, and then with every director that came in. We would wrap them at the end and I would wrap them in a blanket, and different people within the seasons would get [a blanket]In the end, when we were filming the big finale, I got my assistant and a couple of other people to help me, but we ran away and basically bought a bunch of blankets… and [for] For many of the locals it was very meaningful because they were covering people who had come and become family with blankets. But there were 150 or 200 blankets and we surprised everyone by doing it at the end. It was really meaningful.
The cast of “Reservation Dogs”: Paulina Alexis, left, Devery Jacobs, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor and Elva Guerra.
(Shane Brown / Special Effects)
You mentioned the directors, we talked to them. Danis Goulet and Blackhorse Lowe For the season 3, And one of the things they said was what a great opportunity it was for them to work with this collaborative and creative community.
One of my favorite things was being able to give opportunities to people, like my friends who are very talented filmmakers. They were in the same situation as me, we didn't have a lot of opportunities within the industry. Being able to change that with a show was one of my favorite aspects of being a showrunner and creating the show.
What should be the decision?–What do Hollywood creators learn from this now that their show has been nominated?
People crave different stories, people crave new and fresh stories, people crave new faces and… [they] are willing to give people the opportunity to tell their stories from their perspective. If you do that [and] You support that, like FX did, and you benefit from it. You can do amazing things. “Reservation Dogs” was something new. [that] It broke a lot of barriers. When you do that, you don't always get recognized in real time. It's something you have to reflect on to really understand what changed… You have to be in the future to reflect on what those things did. I always felt that “Rez Dogs” is timeless, but people will always recognize it as something that broke a lot of barriers.
Is there anything you want?'d What would you like to say to native artists who want to get into television or film?
Obviously, it should be very encouraging, with all the indigenous actors and shows that were nominated. It should be very encouraging for everyone who is thinking about stepping into the world of film and television. Now is the time. We are here, holding the door open, so come on in.
You've talked about doing a spin-off. Do you think we'll see something from the “Rez Dogs” universe in the near future?
Not in the near future, but there will be something. I have a lot of ideas for the future. But I did make a new pilot. [“The Sensitive Kind,” for FX] And you might see some Easter eggs, too.
