Trail-blazing actor Gary Farmer on his career, Indigenous representation and receiving the August Schellenberg Award of Excellence

As trail-blazing Indigenous actor and broadcaster Gary Farmer watched his peers, one by one, be typecast as stereotypical “Indian” characters, he was adamant about never stepping into those roles. So he shielded himself the only way he knew how.

“I stayed chubby to protect myself,” said Farmer, 69. “I was going to tell contemporary stories because I knew I was too chubby to be a starving Indian from the 19th century. And I was fine with that.”

Despite an industry that, for a large chunk of Farmer’s career, has neglected to tell authentic Indigenous stories and continually sidelined Indigenous artists, Farmer has managed to carve out a four-decade career that has seen him become one of the most prolific and versatile artists of his generation.

For Farmer, advancing honest Indigenous representation onscreen and behind the scenes has been a key pillar of his work. “My whole career was spent trying to decentralize Hollywood. When I was a young actor, I got so sick and tired of looking into a white boardroom,” he said. “We needed to diversify this whole experience.”

Last Saturday, he received the prestigious August Schellenberg Award of Excellence from the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, which recognizes an Indigenous actor for their personal and professional achievement, and their community involvement in the arts.

Before receiving the award, Farmer sat down with the Star for an extensive interview in which he reflected on his career, Indigenous representation in the arts and media, and starring alongside Johnny Depp in one of the most significant Western Hollywood films from the 1990s.

Born in Ohsweken, Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford, Ont., Farmer and his family briefly lived in Texas before relocating to New York state, where the actor spent his formative years. Growing up, Farmer never saw himself pursuing a life in the arts.

“I knew in my career I wanted to help, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to do that,” said Farmer.

As a kid in Buffalo, the multidisciplinary artist considered careers in policing, social work and correctional services. But in his late teens, Farmer witnessed the unprecedented Attica Prison Riot a few miles from his home, which left 43 people dead and dozens others wounded. That unfathomable event changed Farmer’s career trajectory.

“I saw the police was so corrupt,” he said. “I knew then that I could fix things from outside, but I wasn’t going to fix them from in there.”

He later studied photography and film production at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now known as Toronto Metropolitan University) and spent his weekends as a bouncer at the Silver Dollar Room.

“The upper levels back in the day were kind of burlesque, in the truest sense of the word. And then the lower part of the club was the biggest Indian bar in Canada,” he recalled. “If you wanted a job in the community, you came to the Silver Dollar Room. That was the social centre of our community back then” before the friendship centre movement.

Farmer discovered his love of theatre through the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, founded by his friend, the late James Buller.

He was initially brought into the company not as an actor, but as a babysitter for some 12- and 13-year-olds in a production. Yet, that was when he fell in love with the theatre. Even now, after a stalwart career spanning the stage, television and film, Farmer says theatre remains his favourite medium.

Farmer grew up in Toronto’s burgeoning theatre scene, cutting his teeth at companies like Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille and Factory Theatre — all of which were fledgling arts organizations in the early ’70s.

“Everything that happened in my young career as an actor happened between those three theatres,” said Farmer. “All of those experiences as a youth were profound when I look back now. That’s really where it all started.”

Farmer, however, also credits much of his success to his early film work in the 1980s, a time, he says, when the film industry was booming in Toronto.

“When the Americans started to come up in the early ’80s, there was a period where nobody cared about your script. If you had a script to run, they’d make a film,” he said. “Having grown up in Buffalo, but living in Canada, I sounded American to them. So I secured the parts.”

He made his TV debut in 1983, in the revival of “The Littlest Hobo” before landing roles in movies like “Police Academy” (1984) and “The Believers” (1987).

Farmer’s breakout year, however, didn’t come until 1989, when he was cast in the landmark production of Tomson Highway’s play “Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing,” which earned him a Dora Award best actor nomination.

“It was over several workshops over the course of a few years that we developed that piece,” said Farmer. “Good things take time … and it was an amazing process.”

But Farmer says he almost missed being part of that “bit of Toronto theatre history.” That same year, he was also selected to star in the 1990 cult horror classic “Tremors,” alongside Kevin Bacon and Reba McEntire. In the end, Farmer turned down the role — ultimately played by Fred Ward in the movie — which allowed him to join the company of “Dry Lips.”

But Hollywood called again, just a few years later. Farmer’s most significant film role to date was in the 1995 western film “Dead Man,” in which he played Nobody, a Native American who serves as a guide opposite Johnny Depp’s character, William Blake.

“What a ride. What an adventure,” said Farmer. Although largely panned upon its release, the film has since been recognized as a “unique revision” of the Western genre, according to the Criterion Collection.

While Farmer carved a rich career onstage and screen, it’s his contribution to First Nations media in Canada that will likely define his legacy.

At a time when Indigenous representation in Canadian media was sorely lacking, Farmer established Aboriginal Voices, a magazine showcasing Indigenous arts and culture. He went on to launch Aboriginal Voices Radio Network, an organization of radio stations on First Nations reserves across North America.

Looking ahead, Farmer still feels there’s much to be done to support Indigenous artists and increase representation across all forms of Canadian media. Supporting Indigenous-led networks, from radio to TV, is key to that success, he said. “It’s the same thing I talked about 20, 25 years ago: we need our own networks.”

But reflecting on the August Schellenberg Award and his career thus far — he’s still going strong, with roles in the series “Reservation Dogs” and “Resident Alien,” branching out into music and standup comedy, and helping spearhead the Independent Film Festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives — Farmer says looking back and seeing the people whom he’s mentored now setting out on their careers brings him the most joy.

“Now I see all those young people that I trained are the ones in charge, or the ones I published, they’re the ones leading the charge,” he said. “It makes me feel real good.”

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