Wes Studi

Actor and musician Wes Studi credits his passion and multi-faceted background for his character portrayals that changed a Hollywood stereotype. Breaking new ground, he brought fully-developed Native American characters to the screen, and then took his craft a step further highlighting the success of Native Americans in non-traditional roles.

Drawing from his own life experience, Wes moved audiences with his performances in “Dances with Wolves,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Geronimo: An American Legend,” and “Heat,” as well as James Cameron’s “Avatar,” Paul Weitz’s “Being Flynn” and Scott Coopers “Hostiles.”

Wes’ other notable film credits include: “The Only Good Indian,” which he also produced, “The New World,” “Street Fighter,” “Seraphim Falls,” “Three Priests,” and such television movies as “Crazy Horse,” “Comanche Moon,” “Streets of Laredo,” “Broken Chain,” and “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.” Additional television credits include Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful,” “The Mentalist,” “Hell on Wheels,” and General Abner in “Kings.”

In 2019, Wes received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Award, an honorary Oscar statuette, given to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement.

Wes’ artistic talent extends beyond acting: he’s a skilled stone carver, working primarily in soapstone and other soft stones, and an accomplished musician who plays bass and guitar. Additionally, Wes wrote two children’s books, “The Adventures of Billy Bean” and “More Adventures of Billy Bean” for the Cherokee Bilingual/Cross Cultural Education Center.

Wes is a passionate activist who has a national leadership role in the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages, acting as the spokesperson for the Santa Fe-based Indigenous Language Institute, and the PBS documentary “We Shall Remain.”