‘Reservation Dogs’ Star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai Reacts to Emmy Nomination & Show’s Impact

Reservation Dogs is a first-time Emmy contender as the FX original scored five nods for its third and final season, one of which includes Best Actor in a Comedy Series for young star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.

Leading the show as Bear Smallhill, Woon-A-Tai has carried the comedic and dramatic storytelling on his character’s shoulders for quite some time in a series that tells the story of Indigenous youth on an Oklahoma reservation who struggle to find their footing after the suicide of the close friend Daniel (Dalton Cramer). Featured among an enchanting ensemble that also includes Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, and Lane Factor, Woon-A-Tai delivered a series-best performance, earning him the Emmy nod, one of many that are long-overdue for this special show.

Below, Woon-A-Tai, whose next project is Alex Garland’s Warfare, spoke to TV Insider about Reservation Dogs finally being recognized by the Emmys, why earning a nomination for this role is so special, and what it was like working alongside legendary Indigenous actors like Graham Greene.

Shane Brown/FX

What was your initial reaction to learning you were nominated?

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai:  I’m very grateful that throughout all of our seasons, we’ve been nominated for many different awards shows AFIs, The Peabody Awards, et cetera. But I’m very grateful and honored that finally, the Emmys are realizing how great our show was. I was sleeping and my friend messaged me and was like, “Yo, congratulations. We’ve got to go celebrate.” And I’d just got back home. So I had no idea what he was talking about. I had no idea. I was like, “Yeah, man, we can go celebrate for whatever reason, come down anytime.” And then he’s like, “No, man, it’s the Emmys. The Emmys.” So that was how I found out. I just woke up to great news. It was a very peaceful time. Right after I woke up, to enjoy myself I went on a hike and accidentally missed all of my interviews I had to do about the Emmys.

What does it mean to have your role recognized in this way?

Amazing. For almost four years I’ve been developing and growing with Bear, and that’s one thing that I love talking about, which is that every young actor on the show, we all grew up together really. I mean these past few years we got to see each other grow, especially Lane Factor who plays Cheese, who started off at 15, maybe even younger. And he’s a big guy now. So seeing the other actors and how we grew throughout the years and became closer as a family, it’s just beautiful. And then especially to be with Bear… after Season 2 ended, I had no idea where Bear’s story was going. But I did know that I was in good hands when it came to the writer’s room and they were going to give Bear his justice. And they did. I thought Season 3 was one of the most important seasons for Bear.

Throughout the whole series, the question for Bear was how to become a man without having a proper father figure in his life. And we see that through Season 2 with the roofing episode and his uncles. But we really see that when it comes to the Maximus episode with Graham Greene. And that was both having a positive male figure in his life and seeing how Bear could see himself in Maximus. And I think that was Bear’s way of [realizing] I don’t want to end up like this.

If I keep on rejecting my community, like Maximus has, running away from it, I’m going to be all alone when he doesn’t really want that. And that was the whole thing right from the beginning to the end. Seeing his best friend’s death… [Bear] blamed it on the community and the people around him, which was wrong. And he always thought the grass was greener on the other side until he got to California. You realize what was healing him and his friends, was being with his community. The best example of that is the last episode when the whole community comes together, both for Fixico’s death and the ending of the show.

Shane Brown/FX

Speaking of Maximus. What was it like getting to share that one-on-one screen time with Graham Greene? The show has featured so many iconic Indigenous stars over the seasons, did you take any lessons away from your time working together?

I love Graham Green. I think he’s an amazing actor. He’s a legendary actor, and he’s taught me a lot. Very few of us main characters [in the series have gotten] to act alongside or alone with a legendary actor. Examples I can think of would be [Paulina Alexis] with Lily Gladstone, and Lane Factor with West Studi. We get these few episodes where we can really spend time with these actors and learn from them. And I was very grateful, very honored that my episode was with Graham Greene, and that was his first time coming to set. We had Lily before, we had Wes Studi before, but to add Graham Greene! It was an honor. And he’s definitely showed me the ropes. He’s [helped] me with acting tips, but also showed me how to act in the industry, talking to people and going to events. He’s definitely been [a mentor]. He’s been there by my side and he would send me emails. I love it. So I stay in contact with him as much as I can.

Another strong male figure in Bear’s life is William Knifeman, but they spend most of Season 3 apart until having a poignant last scene together in the finale. What was it like getting to see that relationship through to the end of Season 3?

Dallas Goldtooth is an amazing actor and one thing that he did great on the series was break the tension a lot and I think it’s very needed and very beautiful. It was very weird playing Bear not having William Knifeman’s input. And for me, that felt like Bear was definitely by himself a lot through Season 3 and especially through the Maximus episode where [Bear] was even asking for William Knifeman to come and help him. So it’s interesting seeing the dynamic that Bear has within himself, which is wanting to reject the help from William Knifeman, and then once he needs it, [he has to] do it by himself. And that’s another example of how Spirit even taught Bear to be a better man and how to do it by himself without needing help. Bear definitely had the independence he needed to become a man. And I think that was a beautiful way the writers [handled] it.

FX

There’s a real sense of closure during the finale scene between Bear and Elora, how do you feel about the ending of their brother-sister story arc and how do you envision the future of these characters? Is there more story to tell?

I think [the Rez Dogs] have all accepted where they want to be, which is in the community where they live. And even if that may mean Elora Danan is going to college or university in Oklahoma City, I think they know they’ll always be back with each other. And that was one thing too that Sterlin talked about in interviews. When Bear says “It’s okay, you have to go follow your dreams.” He has a feeling that they’re going to see each other again. But he also has a feeling that they might not, and he’s accepting that because we all have to grow and move apart. One great example of that is watching the aunties and uncles in the episode, the older characters, and seeing their family dynamic and friend dynamic when they were younger. The same thing applies to the Rez Dogs. Some may move away and come back decades later, some may stay and have kids or have relationships.

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'Reservation Dogs' Star Devery Jacobs on Elora's Journey & Writing Scenes for Ethan Hawke

What are you going to miss most about working on this show?

It was definitely bittersweet ending the project, but one thing I knew was that we would always see each other again. I’m from Canada, but I love Oklahoma and I always like to think of it as my favorite state, but also one of my states that I like to call home as well. I have the people who I see as family there. So I try to come back as much as I can and stay in contact as much as I can. But one thing that I will miss is even though I know I’ll see every single person on that set again, it just sucks we won’t be all together again the exact same [way].

Throughout the years, we added new crew members, but a lot of them were the same people from day one. And it was very beautiful that we all created this because it’s as much their story as the actors, to tell them as Native people. I’ll miss just hanging out with everybody. I’ll miss hearing Sterlin’s hyena laugh behind the camera. I’ll miss Migizi [Pensoneau] throwing in lines every now and then. I’ll miss the crew. I’ll miss hanging out with the cast after we shoot. We did something very special. I may not have known it at the time, but that was my dream role.

FX’s Reservation Dogs, Seasons 1-3, Streaming now, Hulu