Martin Sensmeier | |
---|---|
Born | [1] [2] | June 27, 1985
Occupation(s) | Actor, Model |
Years active | 2012–present |
Partner | Kahara Hodges |
Children | 1 |
Martin Sensmeier (born June 27, 1985) is an American actor and model. Of Alaska Native and European American descent, he is known for playing various Native American roles. He starred in the 2016 remake The Magnificent Seven and had a recurring role as "Wanahton" in the HBO television series Westworld (2018). More recently, he has played a physical therapist in the TV series Yellowstone and a Comanche warrior named Sam in the prequel 1883 , both directed by Taylor Sheridan.
Sensmeier was born in 1985 in Anchorage, Alaska, [3] to Raymond and Eva Sensmeier, but was raised in Yakutat. His father is German-Tlingit and his mother is Koyukon-Athabascan from Ruby, Alaska, on the Yukon River. Sensmeier identifies with the cultures of his Alaska Native grandmothers, which his parents stressed. [4] Martin’s paternal grandfather, Gilbert Michael Sensmeier, was born in Indiana of German descent.
Sensmeier began his working career as a welder, then worked on an oil rig for Doyon Drilling. He quit to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles. [5] [6] There and in New York, Sensmeier worked as a professional model; he gradually found work as an actor in Los Angeles.
His first feature film was the sci-fi thriller Beyond the Sky . [1] He appeared in a leading role, as one of the "seven", in the 2016 feature film The Magnificent Seven , a remake of an earlier version.
In 2017, Sensmeier was cast in the lead role in the biopic The Chickasaw Rancher, portraying Montford Johnson (Chickasaw), a man who built a ranching empire near the Chisholm Trail. [7] That year he also had a role as Chip Hanson in the film Wind River , and will reprise the role in the upcoming sequel Wind River: The Next Chapter . [8]
Sensmeier joined the cast in the second (2018) season of the HBO television series Westworld , in the recurring role of Wanahton.
In 2020, he took on the role of Chief Eddy in the original English version of the video game Tell Me Why from Dontnod Entertainment. The game is set in Alaska and the character belongs to the indigenous Tlingit people, as does Sensmeier.
More recently, he has played a physical therapist in Season 2 of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone , the four-season saga of the Dutton family and their patriarch's determination to keep the ranch intact, and the character of Sam, a Comanche warrior, in 1883 , Sheridan's prequel to Yellowstone . 1883 centers on a group of covered-wagon settlers seeking a new life in Oregon after banding together in Texas. It stars Sam Elliot, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill & newcomer Isabel May as Elsa Dutton, the series narrator and love interest of Sam's.
Sensmeier is a member of the Native Wellness Institute, a youth advocacy group. He is proud of his Alaska Native heritage. [9]
In January 2020, he and partner Kahara Hodges announced they were expecting their first child. [10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | K'ina Kil: The Slaver's Son | Tintah | Short Film |
Salem | Mohawk | Uncredited | |
2016 | Lilin's Brood | Wolf | |
The Magnificent Seven | Red Harvest | ||
Westworld | Native Warrior | Uncredited; Episode: "The Original" | |
2017 | Wind River | Chip Hanson | |
2018 | Perfect | The Harvester | |
Westworld | Wanahton | Recurring role | |
Beyond the Sky | Kyle Blackburn | ||
Spare Room | David | ||
2019 | Yellowstone | Martin | Recurring role (Season 2) |
2020 | FBI: Most Wanted | Reginald Waters | Episode: "Ghosts" |
The Liberator | Samuel Coldfoot | Miniseries, main cast | |
2021 | The Ice Road | Cody | |
Rutherford Falls | Ray | ||
2022 | 1883 | Sam | Recurring role (Season 1) |
La Brea | Taamet | Recurring role (Season 2) | |
9 Bullets | Eddie | ||
2023 | Frybread Face and Me | Marvin | |
TBA | Takeover | Hilario | post-production [11] |
TBA | Wind River: The Next Chapter | Chip Hanson | post-production [12] |
The Tlingit are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language, in which the name means 'People of the Tides'. The Russian name Koloshi or the related German name Koulischen may be encountered referring to the people in older historical literature, such as Grigory Shelikhov's 1796 map of Russian America.
The City and Borough of Yakutat is a borough in the state of Alaska and the name of a former city within the borough. The name in Tlingit is Yaakwdáat. It is derived from an Eyak name, diyaʼqudaʼt, and was influenced by the Tlingit word yaakw.
The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with more than 1,000,000 visitors each year. Incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007, it was previously a city in the Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon Census Area. The most populated community is the census-designated place of Skagway.
Quanah Parker was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grew up among the Kwahadis, the son of Kwahadi Comanche chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, an Anglo-American who had been abducted as a eight-year-old child and assimilated into the Nokoni tribe. Following the apprehension of several Kiowa chiefs in 1871, Quanah Parker emerged as a dominant figure in the Red River War, clashing repeatedly with Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. With European-Americans hunting American bison, the Comanches' primary sustenance, into near extinction, Quanah Parker eventually surrendered and peaceably led the Kwahadi to the reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, sometimes spelled Aleksandr or Alexandr and Baranof, was a Russian trader and merchant, who worked for some time in Siberia. He was recruited by the Shelikhov-Golikov Company for trading in Russian America, beginning in 1790 with a five-year contract as manager of the outpost. He continued to serve past the end date of his contract.
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is a Chickasaw classical composer and pianist. His compositions are inspired by North American Indian history, culture and ethos.
Moses J. Brings Plenty is an Oglala Lakota television, film, and stage actor, as well as a traditional drummer and singer. He is best known for his portrayal as "Mo" in the television series Yellowstone.
Byron Ivar Mallott was an American politician, elder, tribal activist, and business executive from the state of Alaska. Mallott was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaash Ké Kwaan clan. He was the 12th lieutenant governor of Alaska from December 2014 until his resignation on October 16, 2018. He also previously served as the mayor of Yakutat, the mayor of Juneau, the president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Gil Birmingham is an American actor known for his role as Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater in the Paramount Network's television series Yellowstone. He is also known for his portrayal of Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series and recurring television roles as George Hunter in Banshee and Virgil White in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Robert James "Jim" Schoppert was an Tlingit Alaska Native artist and educator. His work includes woodcarving, painting, poetry, and essays. He has been described as an innovator, whose works pushed the boundaries of what was expected from Northwest Coast art.
The Magnificent Seven is a 2016 American Western action film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk. It is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name, itself an adaptation of the 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai. The film stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard, and Haley Bennett. It was the final film of composer James Horner, who died the previous year after composing part of the score; his friend Simon Franglen completed the music. Principal photography began on May 18, 2015, in the north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Wind River is a 2017 neo-Western crime film written and directed by Taylor Sheridan. The film stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent, respectively, who try to solve a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, and Graham Greene also star.
Elaine Elizabeth Abraham was a Tlingit elder and registered nurse who contributed to improving health care delivery in rural Alaska. Later active professionally in the field of education, she assisted with the creation of the Alaska Native Language Center, and, as a statewide administrator at the University of Alaska, in 1976, led the establishment of community colleges in underserved parts of the state.
Taylor Sheridan is an American filmmaker and actor. Sheridan portrayed David Hale in the FX television series Sons of Anarchy and Danny Boyd in Veronica Mars (2005–2007).
Yellowstone is an American neo-Western drama television series created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson that premiered on June 20, 2018, on Paramount Network. The series stars Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, and Gil Birmingham. The series follows the conflicts along the shared borders of the Yellowstone Ranch, a large cattle ranch, the Broken Rock Indian reservation, Yellowstone National Park and land developers. In May 2023, it was announced that the fifth season will be its last and be followed by an untitled sequel series. The first part of the fifth and final season premiered on November 13, 2022, with the second part premiering in late 2023.
Alison O. Bremner Nax̲shag̲eit is an artist of the Tlingit people of Alaska, whose art combines themes of humor, contemporary art, and Tlingit traditions, using mixed media including painting, woodcarving, and collage. She has also made more traditional Tlingit art pieces, "to be used during potlatches and ceremonies" within the Tlingit community. Originally from Yakutat, Alaska, she grew up in Juneau, Alaska, and lives in Seattle, Washington. She describes her art as "inspired by ancient traditions and modern coffee".
1883 is an American Western drama television miniseries created by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on December 19, 2021, on Paramount+. The series stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliott, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen, and James Landry Hébert. The story is chronologically the first of several prequels to Sheridan's Yellowstone and details how the Duttons came to own the land that would become the Yellowstone Ranch.
1923 is an American Western drama television series that premiered on December 18, 2022, on Paramount+. The series is a prequel to the Paramount Network series Yellowstone and serves as a sequel to the series 1883, with Isabel May reprising her role from the latter as narrator Elsa Dutton. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season of eight episodes.