As a queer and indigenous actor and filmmaker, Devery Jacobs fiercely advocates for her communities both on screen and behind-the-scenes in Hollywood.
Born and raised in the Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, Jacobs is known for her many different roles.
Her breakout one as Aila in Rhymes for Young Gouls (2013) landed her a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, catapulting her into the industry.
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Jacobs’ other credits include Prime Video/STARZ’s American Gods, Netflix‘s The Order, CTV’s Cardinal and Amazon Prime’s Thriller: The Lie.
In addition to being a performer, Jacobs is no stranger to filmmaking and directing. Her short film Rae (2017) won Best Youth Work at the 2017 ImagineNATIVE Film Festival, and was an official selection at the 2018 Palm Springs Shortfest.
But Jacobs is perhaps best known for her role as Elana Danan in Taika Waititi’s Reservation Dogs, which won two Indie Spirit Awards in 2022 for Best New Scripted Series and Best Ensemble Cast in a Scripted Series.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, she spoke on her career as a queer and indigenous performer, and how she fell into the older sibling role on the set of Reservation Dogs.
“I definitely feel like a big sister of the group,” she said. “Elora is kind of a big sister to all of them, but me-as-Devery is very much a big sister to each of my costars. I feel like I’m always giving them unsolicited advice…and making sure that they have the support that they need that I so desperately wish I could have had coming up.”
She added, “But there aren’t many people in the industry who are Indigenous and queer, let alone from either of those communities that have gone through this experience. And so it is a lot of trial by fire and has been a lot of having to learn the hard way and go through it myself.”
Jacobs continued, “As soon as there’s that familiar feeling of home in the creation of Res Dogs, as soon as there’s that feeling of the experiences we each had growing up in our communities, that’s kind of the guiding force behind Res Dogs, when it feels invisible, when we are not even noticing, but we’re just so attuned to our own experiences.”
“When white viewers and white people aren’t even part of the conversation—when we are having our own experiences and our own feelings outside of them—that feels like when we’re in the pocket of portraying our experiences in our communities…I look forward to the day when we’re not the only table of Native creatives in these spaces.”
In Season 3 of Reservation Dogs, Jacobs had the opportunity to Most recently, Jacobs starred and produced the feature film Backspot and appeared in Marvel’s Echo. Whether it be headlining projects playing strong queer characters, or directing and producing her own creative projects, Jacobs makes us proud by continuing to impress. She is an inspiration to all queer and indigenous youth who dream of seeing themselves on the big screen. Don't forget to share:
