A who’s who of Indigenous film talent — including Dallas Goldtooth (Reservation Dogs, Echo), Amber Midthunder (Prey, Legion), Wes Studi (Heat, The Last of the Mohicans) and Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves, Wind River) — are set to star in Brave, a new dramedy from writer/director Steven Paul Judd (Echo, Dark Winds), The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The feature, currently in pre-production, will begin principal photography next summer on the Choctaw Nation Reservation in southeastern Oklahoma. It will be the first-ever feature film to be shot on Choctaw land. The project was developed in close cooperation with the Choctaw Nation, the third-largest Native tribe in the United States.
Brave tells the story of Uncle Jack (Goldtooth), a 15-year military vet with substance abuse issues who now works as the entertainment in his local Native casino. At the funeral of his estranged brother, Jack meets Jillian, his young niece, now an orphan. Jillian is dying of liver cancer and her one wish is to find a suitable home for her dog, Carl. She sees Uncle Jack as a potential caretaker, even though Jack can barely care for himself. A liver transplant could save Jillian’s life and Jack is a match, but his years of alcohol abuse have made him unsuitable.
“And it’s a comedy,” says John Day, one of the film’s producers. “It doesn’t end the way you think it does.”
Graham Greene will play Pops, Jack’s disapproving father. Studi and Midthunder will play Ernie and Charlie, mismatched partners of the local residential police force. The part of Jillian is currently being cast.
“To have Amber after [her star turn in the Emmy-nominated Hulu film] Prey, to have Dallas after Reservation Dogs, is just incredible,” says Judd. “And Wes Studi and Graham Green, I’ve been watching them on screen since I was a kid.”
‘Brave’ writer/director Steven Paul Judd.
Greer Inez
Producers Day and Zachary Starnes of Chaotic Neutral Pictures brought the project to Judd, a director and screenwriter with Choctaw and Kiowa heritage, who adapted it to “make it truer to how I grew up, to my own lived experience” as a Native person from Oklahoma. Judd has writer and director credits on the AMC series Dark Winds and as a writer on the Marvel mini-series Echo.
“It was important to me to give this story a real sense of authenticity, to the Choctaw reservation, to the Choctaw community,” he says. “Even though this story is a universal one.”
Brave will be the first-ever film to shoot on Choctaw land and the tribe has been closely involved in developing and pre-production on the $7 million feature.
“This film represents a historic milestone for our Tribe. It’s a powerful step forward in our efforts to defend sovereignty, ensuring our stories are told authentically by our own people. It also provides a platform for Choctaws to see themselves represented on screen, fostering pride and connection to their heritage,” says Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Chief Gary Batton. “The production will also bring economic opportunity to communities in southeast Oklahoma, supporting local businesses and showcasing the beauty of our land.”
“It was very important for me that this project also provides training opportunities for local kids, to give them hands-on experience on a film set,” says Judd. “I knew when I grew up, I had no idea how to get into this business and I would have killed to work on a movie like this.”
‘Brave’ Film Poster.
Chaotic Neutral Pictures
Goldtooth is best known for his starring turn on Reservation Dogs, where he also served as a writer. He recently appeared in Marvel series Echo and has acting credits on Peacock comedy Rutherford Falls, Netflix film Rez Ball and Amazon Prime’s Fallout. He is a co-founder of the Native American sketch comedy group The 1491s and a well-known environmental activist. Goldtooth is repped by Mosaic and Hirsch Wallerstein.
Midthunder, who won a Saturn Award for best breakthrough performance for her turn in Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey, recently wrapped as the co-lead of Paramount’s action-comedy Novocaine opposite Jack Quaid and shot A24’s Opus opposite Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich. She also made The Hollywood Reporter‘s 2023 list of “The Next Generation of Ass-Kicking Action Movie Stars.” Other film credits include Netflix’s The Ice Road opposite Liam Neeson and Laurence Fishburne and the indie feature The Wheel from director Steve Pink. On TV, Midthunder was a season regular on Noah Hawley’s hit Marvel/FX series Legion. She is repped by CAA, Corner Booth Entertainment, Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein, 2pm Sharp.
Greene earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for playing Kicking Bird in Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and has appeared in such features as The Green Mile, Wind River and King Ivory. His many television credits include turns on Reservation Dogs, Echo and HBO’s The Last of Us. He is repped by Greene Talent, Inc.
Studi has a decades-long career that has included performances in such Oscar-winning films as The Last of the Mohicans, Geronimo: An American Legend and The New World, as well as Heat, Mystery Men and Avatar. In 2019, he received an honorary Academy Award, becoming the first Native American to win an Oscar. He is repped by Domain Talent and Michael Black Management.
