Paulina Alexis is a breakout star for Reservation Dogs

A 20-year-old actress from Alberta overturns Hollywood traditions while preserving Hollywood traditions.

It didn’t take long for Reservation Dogs to get a Hollywood approval stamp. One year after its debut, the FX drama co-produced by Oscar winner Taika Waititi won the Peabody, Golden Globe Awards and Independent Spirit Awards. However, the team itself is an anomaly in the entertainment industry. The show’s writers and actors are all indigenous and include fans’ favorite Paulina Alexis.

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The 20-year-old actress, who plays the tough and weeping character Willy Jack, is from the Alexis Nakota Sioux tribe in Alberta. Her childhood was full of on-screen opportunities. Alexis’ father, Rob, ran a small production company. “I played with my brothers and made my own little skit,” recalls Alexis. However, she became a professional until she was 18 years old. Alexis’s first big gig was Ghostbusters: Afterlife a minor role. She snatched after sending director Jason Reitman to Stitch during an audition in Calgary.

Alexis soon played a role in Beans, a 2020 drama acclaimed by Mohawk filmmaker Tracey Deer. Six months later, she received the wind of the next series about teens in the Oklahoma Reserve. Alexis was initially auditioned for the show’s female leader, Erora Danang, but Showrunner said she was well suited to play Willy Jack, a role originally written for a male actor. She thought. In true Canadian form, she learned that she played that role while watching a hockey game. “I started to be surprised at the stand,” she says.

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What surprises me now is her fan. The show began its second season on Hulu on August 3, and the internet is already at a loss with the famous quarterable Willy Jack meme known for its wise cracks and rear urban native era hats. In real life, Alexis balances her new fame with life in her hometown. She plays around the hockey team even when she’s not filming.

Occasionally the world clashes. At last year’s Emmy Awards, Alexis wore a beaded eagle and a long skirt on a blade to hide a leg injury that he had suffered during a horse race at an Indian relay four days ago. “Instagram has a lot of followers and I go to LA a lot for free, but it hasn’t changed much,” says Alexis, who will play the next role at CBC’s Bones of Crows. “I’m wearing new shoes here and there, but I’m wearing the same slides I wore on rez.”

This article was printed in the August 2022 issue. McLeans magazine.Subscribe to monthly print magazines hereOr buy the problem online here..