The actor: Wes Studi has proven himself a formidable fighter on the big screen, thanks to his work in films as disparate as Heat and Street Fighter, even sporting spandex for his comedic turn in Mystery Men. Studi has several new movies in the pipeline (including one that’s actually called The Pipeline), but one of the projects that keeping him busy in the interim is serving as host for HD Net’s “Summer of Westerns,” which runs from May 19 through August 11 and includes, among other films, a little picture called Geronimo: An American Legend.
Wes Studi: The process of getting Geronimo started when [director] Walter Hill got in touch with us and said that he’d like to screen test me for that role. He had gone through some others, I suppose, at that point in time. At the time I was working in Texas for Bill Wittliff, who you may have heard of, on Streets Of Laredo, which was a miniseries in line with Lonesome Dove, but it was a different time in lives of Gus and Call, the characters played by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. So I was working there with Bill, and I believe I left set for a bit and went into L.A. and did a screen test, more or less. And within a few days, it was scheduled that, as soon as I finished up with Streets Of Laredo, I was to begin the odyssey of Geronimo. So we moved to Moab, Utah from that point in time, and began work throughout the summer of ’93, I believe it was.
The A.V. Club: Geronimo is a name that most people recognize, but from a Native American standpoint, given that Geronimo was Apache and you’re Cherokee, how much of his history did you know?
WS: I’ve been acquainted with Geronimo since… I don’t know for how long! Being Native American, you’re always associated with icons like Geronimo, Sitting Bull, and others from history, no matter what their tribe. Yeah, I had an idea of who he was, but fortunately we were working with people who had extensive knowledge of his career, if you will, and I think a lot of what the story told was on the page. John Milius was the man who wrote the first script for that film, but as time went on, I believe, other writers were brought in to kind of take into account other actors and agents’ desires for their clients and such, and as time went on, there were a few changes made.
I’ll tell you a small story about the time that we initially screened Geronimo. The initial screening, I think it was at the Writer’s Guild—or one of those guilds, anyway. [Laughs.] But I sat through the film, which was my initial viewing, and I walked out at the end of it to a huge lobby wherein I was met by John Milius himself. And he looked at me, and in a very loud voice said to me, “Goddammit, Wes Studi, why’d you let them do that to my film?” [Laughs.] So I just had to kind of reel back a little bit and say, “Well, you know, I didn’t really have a whole lot of influence in terms of how many A-list actors were a part of it!” But I think it’s that, having written the initial screenplay, he wasn’t really pleased with the outcome of the film.
AVC: It still seemed to be relatively well-received, though. It earned an Academy Award nomination. For best sound, admittedly, but even so.
WS: Yeah, well, writers have their own ideas about how things should progress from the time that they turn in their script, right? [Laughs.] I didn’t remember that it was nominated for an Oscar. Too bad it didn’t win! But, yeah, it was quite the adventure, learning more and more about Geronimo, and how people actually felt about him who were of his tribe, his clan, and who were actual relatives of his. And I came to find out that he was not considered a hero by some. Like any other person in the world, he was held in high esteem as well as in low esteem. So all of that made for a fairly difficult role to play, because of all of these things you have to take into account. But as far as the story goes for me as an actor, I simply have to portray what is on the page. So that’s what we did. And we had quite a time doing it in the Four Corners area.
AVC: We try to ask actors about their first on-camera experience, and based on IMDB—which I realize isn’t always accurate—it looks like it was playing a character named Long Runner in The Trial Of Standing Bear.
WS: Oh, yeah, it was the—no, wait, it was actually the second time I had been in front of the camera! But it was the first semi-commercial sort of thing. [Laughs.] I believe it was a PBS film, and it was one of the first screenplays to be shot in digital. And that was back in the day when all of the digital cameras were huge, as were all of the cables to operate the cameras. It was quite an exercise in stamina for the camera crews! I don’t know if you were around back then, but that was, what, the early ’90s? The late ’80s?
AVC: 1988, reportedly.
WS: ’88, okay. Yeah, that was quite a film. We had scenes that were made up of either “in the snow” or “not in the snow.” [Laughs.] And we had to find snow for some scene, and the entire cast and crew were flown from somewhere around Lincoln, Nebraska all the way up to North Dakota on small planes. When we arrived there, we found a huge patch of snow wherein to work, and the temperature was below freezing. Way below freezing. It was probably somewhere around zero! We had some of our cast members lose pieces of ear to frostbite.
The whole cast and crew were in buses that were kept warm, and we would go out and shoot a scene in the snow, but we couldn’t stay out there any more than five minutes or something like that, because it was just so cold. The main cast was all bundled up to the point where you could barely see our faces! Sometimes you began to think, “Oh, I’ll be tough, and I won’t wear all that stuff around my head and everything.” Yeah, those were the guys who lost pieces of their anatomy to frostbite! That was a rugged shoot, I’ll tell you.
AVC: So what led you down the path of becoming an actor in the first place?
WS: I couldn’t think of anything else that I wanted to do with my life. [Laughs.] I had discovered acting onstage for the American Indian Theatre Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma probably four years or so before The Trial Of Standing Bear, and we did a number of shows in Tulsa at the very prestigious performance art theater there. I got to a point where I was doing stage for very little pay, working in things like gaslight dinner theaters and stuff like that. And then I did some educational stuff for the state of Nebraska—that was the first time I was in front of the camera—and then The Trial Of Standing Bear after that, and I thought, “Well, the only way for me to continue to do this kind of work is to take a shot at it either in New York or Los Angeles.” And being of a rural kind of mind, I thought, “Well, Los Angeles would be the better place to give it a shot.”
So I went out to Los Angeles and starved for a while. [Laughs.] But then things began to pick up around the time of Dances With Wolves. I had done small bits and pieces of work on other projects, but I think Dances With Wolves was my first big job. Or at least that’s how it turned out after the film came out! But, yeah, that was sort of the beginning of it all.
WS: Avatar! I was working on two Westerns at the same time, let’s put it that way. If you can think of Avatar as a Western in outer space… or, rather, on Pandora. I was working on an independent film called The Only Good Indian, working in the state of Kansas, around the Lawrence area. That was set in the early 1900s. And then I would go out to L.A. and shoot motion-capture on Avatar, And I’d go back and forth during the summer of…’07? Or ’08. One or the other.
I thought initially that these were going to be some really difference experiences, the two of them. I mean, I’m in 1900s-period wardrobe for The Only Good Indian, and then moving into whatever the future date of Avatar was! [Laughs.] But then I come to find out that, no, there’s no real big difference, apart from the fact that, in Avatar, I don’t wear period wardrobe, makeup, or anything else. I just wear these digital motion-capture suits with dots all over my face and a camera two inches away from my face. But the basics themselves are totally the same for an actor. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, you still have to put up the performance.
WS: For Hostiles, the big challenge for me was to play someone who was slowly dying and knows it. As you may recall, in a lot of my films, I die one way or another. In fact, that’s a joke in my family: the first thing they ask me when I tell them that I have a new job is, “Do you die in this one?” [Laughs.] But in any case, this was challenging on another level, too, because the language was 99 percent in the Cheyenne language for my character. But playing someone who knows he’s slowly dying… That’s a difficult place to get to when what you rely on for most roles are situations that you’ve been in in real life. You know, in order to connect with what’s going on in a dangerous situation or a funny situation, whatever the circumstances are, an actor can usually draw from his real-life experience. But in this, it’s totally different. I don’t know what it’s like to know that I’m going to die within a certain number of days, weeks, months, years… It’s difficult. So that was a challenge. Hopefully I rose to the occasion. I don’t know.
AVC: Well, I can only speak for myself, but I thought you were pretty great. It’s a powerful film.
WS: Oh, good! I loved working with Scott Cooper. He’s quite the young director.
WS: [Laughs.] That was the first real job I ever got in Los Angeles! Oh, my god. I think The Flash beat me up in an alley, or something like that. I don’t think I had more than a couple of lines.
AVC: Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t call it a major performance.
WS: No, but it paid a little bit of rent, you know? [Laughs.] I might’ve even gotten a good Der Wienerschnitzel meal out of it, too!
WS: I really liked working with John Logan’s script. He’s quite the inventive writer, I’ve always thought. I liked the fact that my character was put a mystical kind of a role, if you will, and it provided me with chances to do something I hadn’t done before. I liked the kinds of characters he had. You throw in an Indian spiritual guide, kind of, along with characters like Jack The Ripper and all the characters from the Penny Dreadfuls of that time. It was a great experience, and I worked with some really talented people. And I got to stay in Ireland for a while! That was a plus. I’d always wanted to visit the place, and finally… ta-da! [Laughs.]
What’s interesting is that John Logan contacted us—and by “us,” I mean my manager was involved—maybe four or five years before we got the call that this was happening. He checked my availability so far in advance that we totally forgot about it. [Laughs.] And then one day we got this call, and within a short amount of time, we’d made the deal, and I was off to Dublin! And then later on we also shot in the south of France for a lot of the scenes that had to do with the American southwest.
WS: Well, that sometimes gets me into a comic con. [Laughs.] That was my first time in spandex. My first role in spandex and a mask.
AVC: And how was that for you?
WS: I really enjoyed that! [Laughs.] And I was working with so many A-list actors and extremely talented people, and the sets—oh, my god, they would blow your mind, some of the sets we were on. It was absolutely amazing to be in a superhero—or a wannabe superhero—type film, and it opened my eyes to what doing comedy was all about. I really enjoyed it. There was a learning curve, but then I discovered again that, yes, the basics are always the same for an actor. Whether you’re in spandex or regular wardrobe or motion-capture wear, you still have to deliver the performance.
AVC: When [Mystery Men director] Kinka Usher saw on social media that I was going to be talking to you, he said, “I love Wes. He’s a real gentleman and fun to shoot with.”
WS: [Laughs.] Yeah, he was great! I liked working with Kinka. He’s very open to actors’ input, and I think that’s one of the reasons that film is still a cult classic.
AVC: Did you have any conversations with Tom Waits during the course of filming?
WS: To some extent. You know, Tom is not really easy to understand. In a conversation, I mean. [Laughs.]
AVC: I absolutely believe you.
WS: Well, if you’ve spoken with him, you know what I’m talking about.
AVC: I’ve listened to enough of his songs.
WS: Okay, then you know the growl! [Laughs.] I had a great time with Bill Macy. He was a great actor to work with. All of the guys in the group of wannabe superheroes were great. There were a lot of comedians in that group, of course, and it was kind of an eye-opener as far as seeing how comedy is developed.
WS: Let me tell you, that film has legs. It really is quite the story, and it’s quintessentially Michael Mann. That’s just the way he tells his stories. That was actually the second time I had worked with him—the first being Last Of The Mohicans—and how I got the job surprised me to the max.
It was a few years after Last Of The Mohicans, and I’m living in Santa Fe at the time, and I heard that Michael was putting together this film called Heat with [Al] Pacino and [Robert] De Niro. Meanwhile, I’m sitting around thinking, “Man, I’ll never work again!” You know, it’s that situation that actors find themselves in from time to time. So I thought, “Hey, I still have Michael’s number here. I think I’ll give him a call…” So I call, I got the reception phone, and I told them I’d like to speak with Michael, and—lo and behold—he’s on the line. So the first thing I said to Michael was, “Hey, I heard you’re making a film with me and De Niro and Pacino!” He laughed. Which he doesn’t normally do! [Laughs.] But he laughed a bit. And then we talked a bit about Mohicans and this and that, just chatting, and then… I don’t know, maybe a week or two after that, my management got the call, and we made a deal. That’s how Heat came about.
AVC: It’s one of the best film ensembles ever.
WS: Yeah! And I got to shoot with… [Pauses.] What’s his name? Come on, help me!
AVC: Val Kilmer?
WS: Val Kilmer, yeah! And darn, wouldn’t you know it? I only wounded him. [Laughs.]
WS: I think I worked with Val on another one later on. I think it was another one of the Lonesome Dove things.
AVC: I hadn’t thought about that, but I think you actually worked with him before Heat, too. Or at least you were both in the same movie. You were in The Doors, right?
WS: Oh, yeah. I know about that one. But, geez, I always think, “I wish they could take that off IMDB.” Because, you know, all you see me there is, like, one, two, and I’m gone! But I guess it’s good for IMDB to have it, eh? [Laughs.]
AVC: As long as it’s actually you, then yes. But you wouldn’t be the first person to tell me when I bring up a role, “That’s not even me!”
WS: [Laughs.] Well, actually, I’ve never seen myself! I mean, I know it’s either a helicopter shot, or they’re in a car and they drive by. But I think it was a helicopter shot. Back when they didn’t have drones, right? But, yeah, that was my big shot in The Doors. But the Western I’m thinking about was another one of those Lonesome Dove prequels or sequels or something like that.
AVC: Was it Comanche Moon?
WS: That’s it! Comanche Moon. We didn’t have any scenes together in that, but we were both in the same miniseries.
WS: Darn it, they killed me in that one.
AVC: Yes, but then they killed the series, so…
WS: Yeah. I think it was the butterflies. [Laughs.]
AVC: It may have been. It was certainly visually remarkable, though.
WS: It was a beautiful series! Ian [McShane] was great to work with. I enjoyed that. I’m not sure I enjoyed living in New York all that much. Because I did have to move there to do that. But I finally began to realize what it is that people love about New York after being there for a while, so now I love to visit.
AVC: A lot of readers wanted me to ask about it, but one of them wanted to know “everything there is to know about his experience on Street Fighter.”
WS: Everything? Oh, my, my…
Publicist: [Taking himself off mute.] I, uh, am also curious about this.
WS: [Laughs.] Oh, Street Fighter… That was a lot of fun, actually, playing a guy with one eye. But we did have to figure out how to avoid the disorientation that happens when losing one eye. It takes a while to get to used to! But initially what we did was drill a very tiny hole in the eye patch, so that my covered eye could see a little bit of something. So that’s what kept me from staggering. Otherwise, if you try to walk around with one eye, it’s disorienting. But someone came up with the idea of drilling that small hole, and I was able to keep my equilibrium.
Otherwise, it was a great experience in terms of learning how to kickbox and working with people who are knowledgeable about kickboxing. To be specific, we worked with a guy called Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. I think he’s still working as a stuntman these days. Benny put us through our paces in terms of physical exertion on that film. But it was great. I really enjoyed it. And I enjoyed working with “The Muscles from Brussels” [Jean-Claude Van Damme] as well. Oh! And we worked with the Budgie. The singer. Do you know who I’m talking about?
AVC: Uh…
WS: She’s an Australian singer, but she was also a film star.
AVC: Oh, geez, you mean Kylie Minogue!
WS: Yeah! Kylie Minogue!
AVC: I am chagrined that I didn’t just ask about her up front.
WS: She’s a wonderful person. I didn’t really know anything about her, but I guess she’d been an actress since she was a child, and then she also got into music. But, yeah, she was great. So what else can I tell you? We spent some time in Bangkok, then we went over to some studios in Australia and lived on the Gold Coast, I think they called it. I think the nearest city was Brisbane. It was quite the adventure.
AVC: Before time gets away from us, let’s circle back to the first time you worked with Michael Mann.
WS: Oh, yeah. And like Heat, that’s another film that’s got legs. It’s gotten to be a classic, I think. Again, that was Michael and—oh, who was the writer? Christopher Crowe. They really developed the character of Magua in the screenplay over time. I kept getting additions to the character as time went on. They were very flexible about how to play their villain, who turned out to be quite the character for my career. He was very good. Almost everyone knows me as Magua. So, yeah, I owe allegiance to Magua!
AVC: Over the years, you’ve played characters from a number of different tribes. Has that even been an issue for you? Or do you just dive into the role, no matter what the tribe might be?
WS: No, it’s not really so much of an issue. We’re almost always provided with people who can help us with the languages. That, in and of itself, is really extremely helpful for actors—to be able to work with someone who knows the ins and outs of the languages, to know where to punch a syllable. Because we do it phonetically, you know. I’d say the only time I didn’t have an actual person for my role was in Dances With Wolves, where I had to learn Pawnee from tape recordings. Actually, it was the same in Penny Dreadful, although I did have phone contact with an Apache speaker—the one who was actually making the recordings for them. On Dances With Wolves, it was pretty much just the recordings.
AVC: What was it like working with Terrence Malick?
WS: Terrence, as it turns out, is kind of from the same area I’m from in northeastern Oklahoma. He got in touch with me at some point in his pre-production and talked to me about playing this character, and we thought it was a great deal. It was good to work with Q’orianka [Kilcher], who played Pocahontas, and Colin Farrell. I had a great time living in Williamsburg. I really enjoyed working in that area.
Now, that language was probably the most difficult for me, in terms of incorporating it into the way I speak. I remember one time we were shooting in England, and we were shooting on actual ships from back in that day that were still harbored there and kept as tourist attractions. But we’re filming on the ship, which is kind of rolling back and forth, and when you put that all together, I realized that I was going to have to use some cue cards for that particular set of dialogue. [Laughs.] Luckily, we were able to put cue cards down on the floor of the ship, so every time I got a chance, I’d look down and… [Mutters in Algonquian.] …and then look back up to the camera. That was my big adventure: cue cards on the floor!
106 Comments
Honestly show me the guys face and i could name countless films he was in but never be able to actually name the guy. He’s almost the male Margo Martindale, maybe just not as beloved.
He’s officially a That Guy. I love discovering new That Guys! Great choice picking somebody so obscure for Random Roles.
This comment jarred me enough to make a reply, but I think it might just be different family backgrounds/experiences. A movie with Wes Studi in it can’t come out without one of my aunts pointing him out. I think literally the one thing my aunt said about Avatar was that the actor from Last of the Mohicans was in it. That film must have made an impression (but I mean, how could it not)
Came here to MAKE SURE his part in Heat was included, left pleased. Wes Studi is a fantastic actor.
I doubt that there would’ve been much to talk about, but I would’ve loved to hear about his experience on Deep Rising, and from everything I’ve read, Street Fighter was just a set of pure hedonism…
Still another fantastic Random Roles!
I really did want to ask him about Deep Rising – it was on my list to ask, for sure – but he was on a schedule, and the native Virginian in me led to wrapping up with The New World. Plus, it rarely disappoints to ask an actor about the experience of working with Terrence Malick. And, hey, you can’t say he didn’t come up with a great closing anecdote!
I’m so happy you were able to sneak in a question about The New World. I find him magnetic on the screen, and it isn’t a coincidence that he is a part of three of my favorite films (Mohicans, Heat, New World).
I agree with everything that you said there — and yet I am still in tears about the fact that you did not ask him about Deep Rising!
I feel like Will and/or the publicist were after something….more from the Street Fighter time.As goofy as that film is, it’s works in its own way. Not quite as good as Mortal Kombat’s Enter the Dragon homage/rip off, but still joyous campy fun.Granted that wasn’t what the makers were going for when they started, but you have to blame CapCom’s interference for that.
I mean, that article says it all: A famously troubled shoot in every respect; the male lead was at the height of his cocaine habit and fell into an affair with the female lead; everybody else on the production was loaded with American cash and in Thailand with plenty of downtime. I’m sure everybody, from Van Damme to Studi to the grips and craft services has a particularly debaucherous story or two to tell from that time.
I know. That movie brings out my inner 13 year old, so I’m kinda wondering if he hooked up with Kylie Minogue.
It’s dumb, but it knows it’s dumb and works as comedy. I love it “QUICK, CHANGE THE CHANNEL!”
“Publicist: [Taking himself off mute.] I, uh, am also curious about this.”This may be the best line from any Random Roles ever.
That’s a great article, thanks for sharing it.
No worries. I’m amazed the film turned out as well as it did, when you considered all the behind the scenes goings on.At worst you can say the film is silly, at best it’s gloriously fun.
God, I love Mystery Men. One of my favorite films – hard to believe it’s 20 years old!
It’s weird to watch it now and realize that Kinka Usher put together a near pitch-perfect parody of superhero films before they became an entire genre. I’m not just talking about making the expected superhero jokes, I’m talking about how it somehow nails a comedic take on the tone, aesthetic, and structure of movies that wouldn’t be made for another decade.
I like Mystery Men a lot but the last time I watched I felt Usher’s direction was the weakest part — not quite camp parody (like Batman 66) but not fully straight satire either. But the cast is hilarious.
I like the odd tone to the movie. It makes it feel like a different world.The biggest thing holding Mystery Men back is that godawful Smash Mouth song that’s just all over it. Any time you start to enjoy the movie, that crap song starts up again.
You see, I like Mystery Men enough that I’m able to repeatedly block out that it has Smash Mouth in it, so I can rewatch it without the fear and loathing that comes with anticipating All Star. Except now you just reminded me of it. So thanks a lot, pal.
Can we get Topher Grace to do an UnSmashed Cut?
Funny you mention that. When All Star first hit the airwaves the video was full of Mystery Men. Then the movie tanked at the box, so the video went back to editing to pull all of the MM. You may have not liked the song, but the song ended up not liking the movie.
My biggest issue is that it’s a damn funny 90 minute comedy into a bloated 120 minutes. Too many scenes drag on or don’t contribute much (as much as I love Tom Wants, and as fun as he is in the role, his introductory scene is about 3x longer than it needs to be). Comedy needs to be brisk, and Mystery Men needed if not stronger direction (although all those Dutch angles, oof), then at least a better editor.Studi is great in that movie though. “…I never told you to do that”
That’s a good point about the bloat. And even with it there’s a sense of waste — how do you cast Ricky Jay in a movie about people with weird abilities and not give him more to do?
They did give him the line “I’m a publicist, not a magician.”
I’d say its look was pretty strongly influenced by Schumacher’s Batman movies, though.
A lot of the characters reminded me (in a good way) of the Civic-Minded Five in the Tick cartoon, ordinary people whose costumes/schticks were very DIY: The Human Bullet, The Carpeted Man, Mr. Mucilage…
It even satirizes some of the character work. I have to imagine that if Captain America met The Shoveller, they’d just look at Tony Stark and Mr. Furious, and just kind of nod at one another knowingly with a sheepish grin.
Once you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your enemies with a balanced attack.OK. And why am I wearing the watermelon on my feet?I don’t remember telling you to do that.
My favourite bit in the whole movie.
Definitely ahead of it’s time. I was just bummed that a superhero group from the Flaming Carrot comics didn’t have frigging Flaming Carrot in it!
Same! It had so many wonderful, small absurdities about it. I still joke about how my superpower is invisibility, but that it only works when no one is looking.
I had a friend who was in that. I can’t believe she’s 20 years older!
I am pleased to hear Kinka Usher have very kind words for Wes Studi in Mystery Men. Back, almost 20 years ago, I watched his commentary on the DVD, and while he heaped praise(rightfully so) on almost the entire cast, he never once mentioned Wes Studi, one of my favorite actors. I’ve been worried ever since that they had not liked each other or something had gone wrong with Mr. Studi on the film. Now I no longer have to worry. Don’t judge me.
The Last of the Mohicans is an all time favorite film for me. Wes Studi is phenomenal in that role. I liked the anecdote about how he got cast in Heat.
Magua is one of those villains that you kind of side with. He has a point, even if you might not agree with his methods. And Studi plays him in such a restrained way. What an amazing movie.
It’s true, he (and all the Native American characters) had been and were being treated abominably by the European colonizers. Magua’s viciousness is contrasted with Chingachgook’s goodness, but you empathize with both- Chingachgook’s last speech in the director’s edition is heartbreaking.
Yes. As he’s speaking, they’re looking west, where it will REALLY hit the fan in 100 years or so.
It’s incredible, and one of those instances where a film far, far outpaces the source material. You are spot-on with Studi’s portrayal. He’s either completely still or exploding with movement and energy. The look Alice gives him before falling off the cliff. Man.
Yep. I should give the movie another chance, I wasn’t a huge fan and that was largely because it’s about Natty Friggin Bumpo and he annoys me (as a character, not in Day-Lewis’ performance), but two hours about Magua and I would’ve been very happy.
I read the novel a few years ago, and egad that was terrible. But I would definitely read one of those revisionist takes that tells the story from the point of view of Magua.
If you’ve never read this classic, please enjoy: http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/rissetto/offense.html . In the parlance of our times, Mark Twain DESTROYS James Fenimore Cooper.
Totally eviscerates him!!! (I have read this before, but it’s always worth another read).
The novel is so awful. Most times people say that the book is better than the movie, but this is one case where the movie is so much better that the book becomes obsolete.
Magua say – understand Yengeesh, very well.
The climactic 10 minutes as they chase after Magua up the side of the mountain, with the final confrontation, with that music, is one of my favorite film climaxes of all-time. It’s absolute perfection.
Agreed. The editing, cinematography, choreography, performances, music (especially that music)- it all comes together perfectly in that sequence. Masterful.
The music from that sequence gets my adrenaline going and gives me chills to the point where it’s a staple on my playlist when I go running.
I like the ambush of the column scene after the fort surrender even more. Went full Kurosawa.
That movie had one of the best soundtracks ever. Seriously
The backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains is also stunning.
A lesser film would have had the star kill Magua, but they were smart enough to let the father get revenge for his son. (As a side note, Russell Means had such a crazy badass life.)
I’m not sure what my full list of Top 5 Oscar Snubs would be, but without a doubt Wes Studi’s performance in Last of the Mohicans is on it.
I just want to see Wes Studi at a Der Wienerschnitzel at some point in my life. Is that too much to wish for?
I didn’t think I could like this dude anymore, then he busted out the Wienerschnitzel and yeah, I like him even more!
I’m on the East Coast now… I miss Der Wienerschnitzel!
I loved him on Penny Dreadful. The character could so easily have become just an uncomfortable “wise elder” stereotype but he invested it with so much regret and sadness and he and Dalton played against each other so well.
True story:In college, took a few friends to see “Last of the Mohicans” for a dollar at the local theater. One of my friends thought it was going to be a bore-fest. Then he saw Magua/Wes Studi. Thought he was the baddest mofo since Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction (especially the “heart” scene”—he high fived me on that scene!). For at least a year, he aimed be the 21st century Magua (physically). Studi did an awesome job with Magua. Would love to see him in more lead roles.P.S. Keep up the great job, Random Roles! Love you guys acknowledging the great character actors who should get more due.
The thing that made Magua such a great villain, other than the fact that Studi ROCKED the role, is that he had a legitimate beef with the British. His backstory was heartbreaking and I can totally see why he just couldn’t let it go.
He was basically Kilmonger, only first by 26 years.
Ha! Studi (briefly) stumps Will! How can you not know the Budgie, sir?
I am a HUGE Kylie fan. But loving her music have never translated to reading a lot of articles about her (I always just skipped straight to the pictures), so I’d never heard that nickname before. When I Googled it post-interview, though, I got the impression that she didn’t exactly love being called that, so I’m hoping for his sake that he never called her that to her face!
I assumed he was referring to the old metal band that Metallica covered back in the day, so you got on his track faster than I would have.
I had assumed he was referring to Budgie, the drummer from Siouxsie and the Banshees.
This guy should be in more films. He’s always amazing.
Another great Will Harris RR. Seems like there wasn’t much time allotted for this one, but Studi is one of my favorite character actors. I was glad to seem him included. Too bad that he totally dodged the Street Fighter question that even his own publicist was dying to hear. If he did seriously pull back the curtain on that one, I can only imagine it being much like a description of a Lovecraftian creature. A thing which the human mind can never understand.
At least he seemed to enjoy the experience, which might make him the only one from that movie
In a perfect world he would have won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in The Last Of The Mohicans.
I had no idea he had started in theatre like he did. I wonder what it would be like to see him onstage live. From the first time I saw him in THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS which I loved, he’s been a standout character actor to me. Great job Will!
Good one, Will, as usual. I commend you for the questions about Studi playing characters with different tribal heritage from his own. I have some friends in a Native American theatre group and it does come up sometimes. Still – I guess they’ve come a long way since Hollywood just basically hired white actors with wigs, or Mexicans, to play Every Single Indian….
a) I knew this was a Will Harris joint within the first two questions.b) Wes Studi stands out in every part he plays. Really great to hear how much he invests in these roles.c) “…and how I got the job surprised me to the max.” I’m hearing this in Wes Studi’s voice in my head and it makes me chortle.
love him! was afraid something bad had happened when i saw his photo here, glad to know he’s still going strong. soooo good in “mystery men!”
I was hoping that the conversation would go into working with Russell Means, who had not been a professional actor prior to DwW (to my knowledge).
He was not in Dances With Wolves
Shit, sorry – Last of the Mohicans.
Sorry if I came across snippy, my apologies, it was not my intention and I tried to edit/delete it but with obviously no successBe safe, be well
Well, here I am, talking about film like it matters to me, and I cannot even get the basics correct.
Malick!
Kings (2009)—“General Linus Abner”At first I read that as General Anus Limber
Colonel Lingus
While you are waiting for the movie Pipeline that is currently in the pipeline, I have a game for you to play
I remember when I heard that Michael Green & Ian McShane were reunited for American Gods, my first thought (not having read the book) was the look up the characters to see who Wes Studi could play (my second was whether Brian Cox could join as well for a larger Kings reunion). Too bad it seems that won’t happen.
Wes Studi would be a great Whiskey Jack.
Makes me wonder what he thought of being in that three-pack of TV movies based on Tony Hillerman’s novels and aired on PBS in the earl 2000s. I only saw the first one, and thought… well, that it didn’t live up to the potential of the books or the talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Those PBS movies with Studi and Adam Beach disappointingly did not live up to the source material, but the world had been waiting so long for any type of Hillerman adaptation that I was still pretty pleased about it. Then there was an apparently disastrous theatrical film about 10 years ago, which I never bothered to see (directed by Errol Morris, IIRC?).The problem was that for the longest time, the rights to the Tony Hillerman books were held by some producer who was unable (or refused) to actually do anything with the property. At this point, I believe the rights have reverted to Hillerman’s daughter, who has carried-on writing the series (Hillerman himself passed away a few years ago).I can’t think of a property that is more ripe for a Netflix series where each season covers one of the books. Especially since Netflix now owns a movie studio in the geographically-relevant Albuquerque, out of which they have already produced a series about a Navajo character (Chambers).
I think Robert Redford was a producer of the earlier effort, The Dark Wind, as well as the later three. I hadn’t even been aware that this movie ever existed, and reviews suggest that I didn’t miss much.The politics and legalities involved, as well as the many things that can individually make for a bad movie but all have to work together for a good one, I know not much about. Interestingly, Lou Diamond Philips, who played Jim Chee in that movie, is always a highlight in a supporting role in the TV show Longmire, based on novels by a great admirer of Hillerman.
So… Wes Studi is the Native American homologue of Sean Bean.Cool, man.
“to the max”
God bless.
So cold and menacing as Magua. Love his stuff.
Another “Yes, of course. Why didn’t I think of them?” choice for Random Roles, which I guess is right on theme.This comments section has convinced me to track down The Last of the Mohicans (which I think I saw as a kid? Maybe?).
You will not be disappointed.
How the F are their only one paragraph each for Last of the Mohicans and Dances with Wolves?
Back in the early 90’s Wes Studi gave a presentation at Northeastern State University (NSU in Tahlequah, OK) about his career and generally about Native Americans in popular entertainment that was open to the public. He brought several clips and talked a lot about Dances with Wolves and his big death scene. He also showed his clip from The Flash, probably because it was his most recent more than anything else. At the end of his talk, he took questions from the audience. The first question was from a little boy who probably around eight years old and he asked “How does the Flash run so fast?” Everyone laughed, including him. I wish I could remember his on the spot answer, but I think he told the kid that was a lot of trick photography. I think it was more clever than that, but it was nearly 30 years ago.I remember that he was a very thoughtful and friendly man and I’m always really excited to see him turn up in a new film.
Wes Studi has had a prolific career, and he’s an amazing actor. The Native American “That Guy,” made a difference in this industry. Thanks for this piece.
He was great in Penny Dreadful. Wish he had more scenes
I’m re-watching it now, have two episodes left of season 2. Been looking forward to season 3 and his appearance, so it’s wonderful to have this Random Roles pop up now.
I recall an interview he did years ago where he talked about how he’’d done all these roles of Native Americans from numerous tribes, but had never played a Chereokee.
Screw John Milius, I really liked Walter Hill’s Geronimo & Wes Studi was great in it
Studi is definitely a national treasure! Give that man all the kudos he deserves!
Sphinx! I love that character and his formulaic teachings!“He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions.”
He perfectly delivers the awkward “Not necessarily” when Roy guesses the end of his “rage will become your master” saying.
A Native American actor who plays Native American characters? He must have put so many Mexican actors out of work.
Publicist: [Taking himself off mute.] I, uh, am also curious about this.
Ha!
What is this barley mention of one of the Greatest Cinematic Villains, his portrayal of Magua. Last of the Mohicans is one of those rare perfect films. It what Cameron tried to capture in Avatar (boy did he miss the mark).
This was quite the interview.
Wes Studi would be a good Forge in an X-movie.