Devery Jacobs

Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (born August 8, 1993) is a Mohawk actress. For her performance in Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013), she garnered a Canadian Screen Awards nomination for Best Actress.^[1] In 2023 and 2024, for her role on Reservation Dogs, she was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.^[2][3]

Devery Jacobs
Jacobs at SXSW 2024
Born	(1993-08-08) August 8, 1993 (age 31) Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada
Other names	Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2007–present
Known for	Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Mohawk Girls, American Gods, The Order, Reservation Dogs

Career

Jacobs began acting in the late 2000s with roles in the television series The Dead Zone (2007) and Assassin's Creed: Lineage (2009).^{[citation needed]} In 2013, she played the lead character in Rhymes for Young Ghouls, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. For her work in the film, Jacobs was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress in a leading role.^[1] The following year, she appeared in the music video for A Tribe Called Red's "Sisters".^[4]

In 2019, in the second season of American Gods, Jacobs played a young Cherokee college student, Sam Black Crow, who identifies as "two-spirited". In an interview, she said that Neil Gaiman (author of the novels on which the series is based) advocated strongly for her to be cast in the role, but noted, "I identify as queer, and not two-spirited, because I'm Mohawk and we don't have that."^[5][6]

Also in 2019, Jacobs played a recurring role as Lilith Bathory in the first and second season of the Netflix series The Order.^[7] Since 2021, she has played a leading role on the acclaimed TV series Reservation Dogs about a group of Indigenous teenagers growing up on a reservation in rural Oklahoma. For the role, she was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 2023.^[2] In season 2, she also joined the writer's room of the show.^[8] In season 3, she directed episode 7, 'Wahoo!'.^[9]

In 2024 she was named as co-winner, alongside Lamar Johnson, of the Radius Award at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards.^[10] She also voiced Alasie in Ark: The Animated Series. In an interview by The Eastern Door, she noted she began recording for the role in summer 2020, with sound equipment shipped from Los Angeles to her apartment in Toronto, calling the process "at bit chaotic," but described the show's story as "really beautiful" and the Inuk character (Alasie) she voices, as comic relief, like a "little kid sister who can sometimes be annoying, but is really silly." She also revealed that she has recorded most of the lines for Alasie before she voiced Kahhori in What If…? season 2 and described the ability to "have fun with the role with letting myself be free" while voicing acting, and the witnessing the creative process on Ark: The Animated Series.^[11]

Personal life

Jacobs is Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk).^[12] At the time of her performance in Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Jacobs was a student at John Abbott College, studying correctional intervention.^[12] She identifies as queer.^[13] Jacobs collaborates with Canadian filmmaker D. W. Waterson, who is also her partner, through their production company called Night is Y.^[14][15]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Note
2007	The Dead Zone	Monique	TV series
2008	South of the Moon	Alexa Dumont	Film
2009	Assassin's Creed: Lineage	Claudia Auditore	TV miniseries
2012	Exploding Sun	Nourhan	TV film
2013	The Blanketing	Seniya	Short film
	Rhymes for Young Ghouls	Aila	As Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs
2013–2015	Mohawk Girls	Lollipop	TV series
2015	A Big Black Short	Jess	Short film
2016	The Sun at Midnight	Lia
	The Land of Rock and Gold	Andrea
	Running Eagle	Judith	Short film
	Another WolfCop	Daisy
	Level 16	Vivien
	The Walking Dead: Michonne	Sam	Video game
	Stolen	Director	Short film
2018	The Lie	Britney Ismali
2019	Blood Quantum	James	As Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs
	Cardinal	Sam Duchene	As Devery Jacobs
	Rustic Oracle	Older Ivy	As Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs
2019–2020	The Order	Lilith Bathory	TV series; recurring role
2019–2021	American Gods	Sam Blackcrow	TV series; recurring role
2021	Rutherford Falls	Jess Wells	TV series; recurring
	The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards	Self (Presenter)	TV special
	Bootlegger	Mani
	We Burn Like This	Chrissy B
2021–2023	Reservation Dogs	Elora Danan	TV series; main role[16] also writer and director
2022	Spirit Rangers	Wind Eagle
	This Place	Kawenniióhstha
2023	Backspot	Riley	Also producer[17]
	What If...?	Kahhori	Voice role; 2 episodes[18]
2024	Echo	Bonnie	Miniseries[19]
	Ark: The Animated Series	Alasie	Voice role[20]
TBA	Oh. What. Fun.		Post-production

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2014	Canadian Screen Awards	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Rhymes for Young Ghouls	Nominated	[21]
2016	Whistler Film Festival	Best Performance in a Canadian Film	The Sun at Midnight	Won	[22]
2017	American Indian Film Festival	Best Actress		Won	[23]
	Yorkton Film Festival	Best Aboriginal Film	Stolen	Won	[24]
	ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival	Ellen Monague Award for Best Youth Work	Rae	Won	[25]
2018	Palm Springs Shortfest	—		Shortlisted	[26]
2021	Gotham Awards	Outstanding Performance in New Series	Reservation Dogs	Nominated	[27]
2023	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated	[2]
2024	Critics' Choice Television Awards			Nominated	[3]
	Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Comedy		Nominated	[28]

References

1. "Canadian Screen Awards recognize Aboriginal talent". CBC News. January 13, 2014. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014.
2. Nordyke, Kimberly (January 15, 2023). "Critics Choice Awards: Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
3. Brathwaite, Lester Fabian (January 14, 2024). "Oppenheimer, Barbie, The Bear lead 2024 Critics Choice Awards: See the full winners list". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
4. "Watch A Tribe Called Red's 'Sisters' Turn Their Day Into a Dance Party". Spin. April 9, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
5. Radish, Christina (March 24, 2019). "'American Gods' Season 2: Devery Jacobs on Bringing Sam Black Crow to Life". Collider. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
6. "'American Gods' Casts Mr. Town, Sam Black Crow & New Media Roles For Season 2 On Starz". Deadline Hollywood. June 4, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
7. Ellenbogen, Rachael (March 6, 2019). "Meet 'The Order' Cast Before Netflix Series Premiere". International Business Times. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
8. Patten, Dominic (September 21, 2021). "'Reservation Dogs' Star Devery Jacobs Joins Expanded All Indigenous Writers Room For Season 2". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
9. ""I'm Not Just Here to Smile": Jenna Ortega, Elle Fanning and the THR Comedy Actress Roundtable". The Hollywood Reporter. June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
10. Etan Vlessing, "Devery Jacobs, Lamar Johnson to Receive Honorary Canadian Screen Awards". The Hollywood Reporter, April 4, 2024.
11. Froundjian, Nanor (April 9, 2024). "Jacobs featured in new animated series". The Eastern Door. Archived from the original on April 10, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
12. "Ghoul Power!: Actress Devery Jacobs Discusses Her 'Badass' New Movie". Indian Country Today. October 18, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013.
13. "American Gods' Devery Jacobs is a Queer Indigenous TV Star". The Advocate. June 19, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
14. "About Us – Night Is Y". Retrieved August 1, 2023.
15. Dowling, Amber (February 15, 2023). "Elliot Page's Queer Cheer Drama 'Backspot' Starts Shooting in Canada (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
16. White, Peter (December 22, 2020). "'Reservation Dogs' From Sterlin Harjo & Taika Waititi Receives Series Order At FX". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
17. Vlessing, Etan (October 13, 2022). "Elliot Page to Executive Produce 'Backspot' Cheerleading Drama (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
18. Scott, Lyvie (December 21, 2023). "What If? Season 2 Release Date, Time, Trailer, and Plot for the Marvel Series". Inverse. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
19. 'Reservation Dogs' Devery Jacobs Joins 'Echo' Marvel Series For Disney+
20. "Studio Wildcard Announces ARK: Survival Evolved Animated Television Series, Featuring Unprecedented Voice Cast, Including Gerard Butler, Michelle Yeoh, Madeleine Madden, Elliot Page, David Tennant, Jeffrey Wright, With Russell Crowe and Vin Diesel". Global Newswire (Press release). Studio Wildcard. 11 December 2020. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
21. "Orphan Black leads Canadian Screen Awards nominations" by Etan Vlessing at playbackonline.ca
22. "Previous Winners". Whistler Film Festival. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
23. "Theatrical, Awards & Festivals". The Sun at Midnight Movie. February 26, 2018. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
24. "2017 Winners & Nominees". Yorkton Film Festival. March 22, 2017. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
25. "imagineNATIVE 2017 Award Winners". imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival. January 9, 2019. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
26. Jacobs, Devery. "Devery Jacobs: The Indigenous Actress You Need to Know". Reader's Digest Canada. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
27. Lewis, Hilary (October 21, 2021). "Gotham Awards: 'The Lost Daughter,' 'Passing' Lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
28. Longeretta, Emily (June 10, 2024). "'Baby Reindeer', 'Ripley' and 'Shogun' Lead 2024 TCA Awards Nominations: Full List". Variety. Retrieved June 23, 2024.

External links

• Devery Jacobs at IMDb
• Deveryjacobs.com