Devery Jacobs | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jacobs atSXSW 2024 | |
| Born | (1993-08-08)August 8, 1993 (age 32) |
| 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 |
Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (born August 8, 1993) is a CanadianMohawk actress. For her performance inRhymes for Young Ghouls (2013), she garnered aCanadian Screen Awards nomination forBest Actress.[1] In2023 and2024, for her role onReservation Dogs, she was nominated for aCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.[2][3]
Jacobs began acting in the late 2000s with roles in the television seriesThe Dead Zone (2007) andAssassin's Creed: Lineage (2009).[citation needed] In 2013, she played the lead character inRhymes for Young Ghouls, which premiered at the2013 Toronto International Film Festival. For her work in the film, Jacobs was nominated for aCanadian Screen Award for Best Actress in a leading role.[1] The following year, she appeared in the music video forA Tribe Called Red's "Sisters".[4]
In 2019, in thesecond season ofAmerican Gods, Jacobs played a youngCherokee college student, Sam Black Crow, who identifies as "two-spirited". In an interview, she said thatNeil Gaiman (author of thenovels 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 seriesThe Order.[7] From 2021 to 2023, she played a leading role on the acclaimed TV seriesReservation Dogs about a group of Indigenous teenagers growing up on a reservation in rural Oklahoma. For the role, she was nominated for aCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in2023.[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, alongsideLamar Johnson, of the Radius Award at the12th Canadian Screen Awards.[10] She also voiced Alasie inArk: The Animated Series. In an interview byThe Eastern Door, she noted she began recording for the role in summer 2020, with sound equipment shipped fromLos Angeles to her apartment inToronto, calling the process "at bit chaotic," but described the show's story as "really beautiful" and theInuk 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 beforeshe voiced Kahhori inWhat 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 onArk: The Animated Series.[11]
Jacobs isKanienʼkehá:ka (Mohawk) and a member of the Bear Clan.[12][13] At the time of her performance inRhymes for Young Ghouls, Jacobs was a student atJohn Abbott College, studying correctional intervention.[12] She identifies asqueer.[14] Jacobs collaborates with Canadian filmmakerD. W. Waterson, who is also her partner, through their production company called Night is Y.[15][16]
| 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[17] also writer and director |
| 2022 | Spirit Rangers | Wind Eagle | Voice role |
| This Place | Kawenniióhstha | ||
| 2023 | Backspot | Riley | Also producer[18] |
| 2023–2024 | What If...? | Kahhori | Voice role; 4 episodes[19] |
| 2024 | Echo | Bonnie | Miniseries[20] |
| Ark: The Animated Series | Alasie | Voice role[21] | |
| 2025 | Oh. What. Fun. | Post-production |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Rhymes for Young Ghouls | Nominated | [22] |
| 2016 | Whistler Film Festival | Best Performance in a Canadian Film | The Sun at Midnight | Won | [23] |
| 2017 | American Indian Film Festival | Best Actress | Won | [24] | |
| Yorkton Film Festival | BestAboriginal Film | Stolen | Won | [25] | |
| ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival | Ellen Monague Award for Best Youth Work | Rae | Won | [26] | |
| 2018 | Palm Springs Shortfest | — | Shortlisted | [27] | |
| 2021 | Gotham Awards | Outstanding Performance in New Series | Reservation Dogs | Nominated | [28] |
| 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 | [29] |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
