‘Reservation Dogs’ Showed D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai What Is Possible

Much like his “Reservation Dogs” character, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai grew up wondering if he was a good guy.

If his dedication to his craft and his community is any indication, the 22-year-old actor of Anishinaabe, Guyanese and German descent seems to be a pretty upstanding citizen. The day we chat about his Emmy nomination for lead actor in a comedy series, for example, he is visiting his parents in his native Toronto (from his adopted hometown, Los Angeles) and has spent most of the morning chauffeuring his auntie around on a several-hours-long excursion. After all, mothers, grandmothers and aunties are considered the bedrock of Indigenous communities.

That’s a fact any “Reservation Dogs” fan would know. With the groundbreaking FX series, the creators Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo provided a rare look at everyday life on an Oklahoma Indian reservation through the eyes of four teens reeling in the aftermath of a friend’s suicide. Harjo, who also served as showrunner, has said there was only one way to do it: with an all-Indigenous team of writers, directors and regular actors who could authentically tell this story.

Alongside his young co-stars, Woon-A-Tai made uncharted television territory feel warm, raw and utterly relatable, garnering “Rez Dogs” broad acclaim as well as four Emmy nominations this year, including a best comedy nod. His portrayal of Bear Smallhill also earned him an Emmy nomination, placing him alongside Lily Gladstone (“Under the Bridge”) and Kali Reis (“True Detective: Night Country”) as the first Indigenous actors to be nominated in 17 years.

In an interview, he talked about breaking down stereotypes, possibly reviving his “Rez Dogs” character and being a good, healthy Indigenous man. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Despite critical acclaim, “Rez Dogs” was notably overlooked by the television academy for its first two seasons. What does it mean to you to break through with a best comedy nomination and one of the few Indigenous acting nominations in Emmys history?

It feels like what Wes Studi said when he got his Oscar: “It’s about time.” Some people say “Rez Dogs” was snubbed by the Emmys during the first two seasons, but I never really thought of it that way, because we were getting nominated for other awards, like a Peabody and the Independent Spirit Awards. I’m very honored to be nominated but also proud because a bunch of other Native actors are nominated as well.

The first time we went to the Emmys was to present an award in 2021, and if I’m not mistaken, we were the only Native Americans in the room. Right then, it became a goal of ours to help fill that room with Indigenous faces. So this year will be amazing not only because we’re nominated but because there will be more Native Americans in the room.

Working on this groundbreaking show so early in your career must have been formative. What lessons did you glean on set with Sterlin and notable Native actors like Wes Studi and Graham Greene?

One of the biggest lessons I took away from it is that any Indigenous project I work on has to have an Indigenous director, writer or producer; the dream would be to have all three like we did with “Reservation Dogs.” When it comes to Indigenous storytelling, it’s so important to tell it with the people that the story actually belongs to.

The other thing “Reservation Dogs” taught me is that you can build a real family on set, which I hadn’t fully experienced before. Usually, the cast and crew don’t mix, but with “Reservation Dogs,” everyone came together and hung out every night. That great chemistry you see onscreen doesn’t start when they say action; it starts when you make these connections.

Bear Smallhill was the only character to have extensive interactions with William Knifeman (a.k.a. Spirit) and Deer Lady. How did those experiences shape his evolution throughout the seasons?

I think it’s beautiful, because I do believe some people are born with the gift of seeing and interacting with spirits, which is why [Native communities] have a lot of medicine people. It was critical for Bear’s arc of becoming a man to have William Knifeman — somebody by his side for the first two seasons whose advice he was too ignorant to take. Then that spirit guide disappeared for Season 3, when Bear really wanted him there, and instead he had to figure it out for himself.

Having Deer Lady come into Bear’s life [in Season 3] was also important, because the biggest question he had about himself was, Am I a good man? We see that in Episode 1 after they steal the chip truck and Bear is visibly affected, thinking we ruined this guy’s life. Interacting with Deer Lady was another critical moment for him, because she only kills evil men. Throughout that day with her, Bear learned to become a man in a different way and really think about how the consequences of his actions affect other people.

What did “Rez Dogs” teach Hollywood — and TV audiences — about Native communities?

That we’re human. One of the biggest barricades we broke down from the very first episode is that we walk and talk and act like everyone else. Throughout much of North American history, the only time we were represented was in John Wayne films, where we were stereotyped as savage and stoic with dark skin and long hair. From the start, we tore down old stereotypes and built up new images of ourselves.

And that we’re funny. It was really important that [“Reservation Dogs”] was a comedy. Before that, most content that people created about us was just depressing; it just made audiences pity us. But with our show, we showed that Native Americans are happy, loving and funny and that we’re a community.

As a star of the show, you’re a young leader in the Indigenous awakening we’re seeing in pop culture. What responsibility comes with that?

We’re all very much just walking pieces of history that has been built up over generations to bring us to where we are right now. I think everybody should feel responsible for carrying their people’s knowledge, culture and heritage with them everywhere they go. But yes, being in the spotlight, I very much feel a responsibility to do things right and be a positive role model for the next generation. I also want to set a strong example of how to be a good, healthy Indigenous man; we need more of that in our community.

Every single day on “Reservation Dogs,” I also acknowledged that there are great Indigenous actors who for 30, 40 years had to deal with these stereotypes and small roles because they wanted to succeed in this beautiful industry and put money on their plate. I’m very grateful for these trailblazers who allow me to be where I am now. This is our time to say, “We’re not going back to that.”

As soon as it was announced that Season 3 would be the last, spinoff rumors started. Would you ever want to return to the “Rez Dogs” story and revive these characters? Or do you think the story ended where it was meant to?

The story we set off to tell about grieving for our best friend, our brother, our cousin, Daniel, was told, which is why we ended it. Do I think that Bear, Elora, Willie Jack, and Cheese’s stories are done? No. What’s great about Sterlin’s work is that the worlds he has created are all in the same universe. For example, in his [2015] film “Mekko,” the main character is from Okern, the same fictional Oklahoma town where the Rez Dogs are from. There’s also a scene with a newspaper and if you look closely you see a character’s name is Thomas Smallhill, the same last name as Bear. What I’m getting at is you’re definitely going to be seeing some familiar faces in Sterlin’s new projects.

It sounds like the Emmys will be a full-on “Rez Dogs” reunion. How often do you connect with the cast and crew these days?

On the last day of “Reservation Dogs,” a handful of us got matching tattoos that say “Love you bitch” [a common phrase on the show] with a rez dog with a little chipped ear. It’s all our handwriting, and the dog is based on Sugar, who was kind of like our set dog who would hang out with everybody. That gives you an idea of how close we became. We talk on a daily basis; I’m getting messages in the group chat right now. All the people who worked on “Reservation Dogs” are my family, and I don’t mean that metaphorically — I truly see them as blood.

Do you think you left Bear Smallhill behind in Oklahoma? Or will he always be a part of you?

From the jump during my first audition, I felt a connection to Bear. A lot of what you see in the show happened in real life to the writers, from goofing around in the streets to committing petty crimes to mourning lost ones. They put their hearts and souls into the scenes. In doing that, they also told thousands of Native people’s stories, including my story. So Bear has always been with me. I don’t mean I channeled him as an actor; that was literally me growing up, having the same questions about being a good human. They wrote all of us into the show, which is why viewers felt so connected to it. That’s them, and that’s their story, too.