Tamara Podemski is moving from the Outer Range to the wide open lands of Oklahoma where she’ll jump in with the cast of FX’s Reservation Dogs for the highly anticipated second season. Variety reports that as a recurring character, Podemski will play the aunt of Bear Smallhill (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) in a three episode character arc. Her upcoming time on the series will serve as another opportunity for her and the show’s co-creator and executive producer, Sterlin Harjo, to work together. In the past, the two teamed up on Four Sheets to the Wind, in which Podemski earned praise in a starring role. The film was Harjo’s breakthrough piece as a director and earned him the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2007.
Known as one of the top Indigenous actors in Canada and the U.S., Podemski has always been a firm advocate for the inclusion of more Indigenous peoples in film and tv, especially in the vein of Westerns. Currently appearing as Deputy Sheriff Joy on Prime Video’s Western sci-fi series, Outer Range, her time on Reservation Dogs will prove to add even more terrific acting to the series while keeping up with her passion of bringing Indigenous stories to the forefront. During an interview with Variety, the actress mentioned that for the most part, the Western genre “does not include Indigenous ideas and truths” and that she wouldn’t be able to step into a world like that, adding, “I’ve been fighting too hard in my fight for representation in television and in Hollywood. This is the work I’m meant to do.”
With this in mind, her time on Reservation Dogs’ second season is sure to feel like a much-needed breath of fresh air. The series, which hails from Harjo and his fellow co-creator and executive producer Taika Waititi, centers around a group of four Indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma. Looking for a way out – specifically to California – the comedy sees the youngsters pull hijinks and robberies in an attempt to stash money and reach their goal. Starring alongside Woon-A-Tai are Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, and Lane Factor. Not only does the series focus on a story about Indigenous people, but it boasts a high level of representation in both the cast and crew with each writer, director, and regular hailing from the Indigenous community.
With an award-winning show like Reservation Dogs, there’s no telling what new heights it will reach. And with the addition of a star like Podemski, the upcoming second season is bound to outdo the first. While, at this time, no date has been announced for the show’s next season, stay tuned to Collider for more information as it becomes available.
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