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No.

So you don't really think that Ryan.

The fourth season of HBO series True Detective centers on Alaska and features Alaska Native actors.

Why didn't you report it to the cops?

That would change nothing.

The actors say the director showed them uncommon respect and took pains to avoid racist stereotypes of the past.

We'll discuss the power of authentic representation right now on Alaska Insight.

Good evening.

Hollywood movies and TV shows have traditionally leaned into stereotypes, too often portraying indigenous Americans using racist tropes that ripple out from TV screens into society, tainting our perceptions of each other.

But things are changing, and the production of HBO's True Detective Night Country was a marked departure from past mistakes and may help signal a new way forward for authentic representation.

We'll discuss it with Alaska Native actors from the hit series.

But before we get to that conversation, here are some of the top stories of the week from Alaska Public Media's collaborative Statewide News Network.

Alaskans have just a few more days to file for this year's permanent fund dividend.

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 31st.

According to the state's Permanent fund dividend Division.

More than six 565,000 Alaskans have already filed for their PFD.

Last year's PFD was $1,312.

This year's amount hasn't yet been determined.

As Governor Mike Dunleavy's proposed $3200 dividend faces pushback from lawmakers seeking to increase state funding for schools.

The state government is at risk of losing millions of dollars in federal education funding because it did not comply with requirements for pandemic relief funds, according to a letter from the US Department of Education.

The state's Education Department, however, disputes that claim.

According to a letter from the federal government, Alaska did not maintain its funding to districts with low income families that received federal relief dollars in 2021 and 2022 and now owes the Kenai, Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks School districts roughly $29 million.

This has also led to a federal high risk designation that could cost the state grant funding.

A news release from Education Commissioner Deena Bishop argued the state funded schools using the same formula it always has, and that the department plans to ask the federal government to reconsider.

Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska's four year statewide transportation improvement plan, or STIP.

The approval brought a sense of relief to state legislators in the capital after the state's first submission was rejected, with the federal government citing 24 pages of flaws with the $5.6 billion plan.

Six projects totaling more than 100 million were excluded from the approval, including nearly 70 million aimed at repairs for the Port of Alaska.

You can find the full version of these and many more stories on our website, alaskapublic.org or download the Alaska Public Media app on your phone.

Now on to our discussion for this evening.

Portraying people as their authentic selves.

What does it take to do this in film and what is the potential for social and political change?

Would real issues are brought to a large viewing audience?

True Detective is fiction, but in the latest series Night Country, the tensions between indigenous people in a resource extraction company may seem familiar to Alaskans.

Let's watch a clip from the series.

This features Alaska native actors Diane Benson, Yaari Walker and Mary Lou Asicksik The scene is a confrontation and a sort of affirmation that the aunties, Diane Benson, referred to them as the Justice ladies were not backing down.

Why didn't you report it to the cops?

That would change nothing.

Where's my crap?

It's always the same story with the same ending.

Nothing ever happens.

So we told ourselves a different story, a different ending.

But it's just a story.

So?

So in your joke, what will it be?

Stories are stories.

While this series, HBO's original True Detective Night Country is available to stream on the streaming service Max.

And so if you haven't seen the series yet, you too can have Billie Eilish's eerie little song stuck in your mind like it has been for me since January.

Joining me tonight to discuss their roles in the HBO series and the power of being seen, heard and respected is Mary Lou Asicksik.

Mary Lou helped with casting the series and also acted in it.

Mary Lou also works for Alaska Public Media, and Philip Blanchett also acted in True Detective Night Country and is well known in Alaska and beyond as the lead singer and one of the founding members of the Indigenous rock band Pamyua.

Thank you.

Welcome, both of you, for being.

I'm so happy that you're both here.

This is really fun to have you here.

Thank you so much.

Quyana.

Yeah, that that scene is so powerful.

Just the defiance in Diane Benson, who is the main character in that scene.

We also also see Yaari Walker for just a little bit and you for just a few seconds as you come into the scene.

The scene is so powerful.

Later, we'll see one with both of you more directly.

But Mary Lou, give us a little context for the scene that we just saw.

Without giving away too much for people who haven't seen the series yet.

Well, so that scene is we actually shot it.

I think one of the first days.

So it was something that was kind of set the mood for the rest of the shoot, even though it airs later in the series.

And so what's happening is something is revealed.

And so all of the women are coming together to kind of tell the story and wrap things up.

So that's all I can really say without spoiling it for anybody.

You know, it's interesting to know that that was shot at the beginning because as we you know, as we discussed and we'll talk more about this as we get into the program, that's a very heavy situation.

And so it's interesting that that helped set the tone, which probably was important, I would imagine, because it is a serious a serious series.

Let's talk a little bit about some of the logistics that goes into putting a major production together.

It wasn't shot in Alaska, but Mary Lou, in addition to acting in the series, you helped with casting.

Tell us about that.

Yeah, so I actually worked for Alaska Talent, which is one of the talent agencies here in Alaska.

And I was a casting associate, so when the call came to us to help cast it, we went to look for people all over Alaska and also to Canada and Greenland in order to have as much authenticity as we could in the people who are portraying people that are supposed to be from Alaska.

And do you have a sense of how many Alaskans you talk to?

my goodness, no.

I would say it was probably hundreds.

Yeah, because we have we had all sorts of casting calls.

We went out on locations to Nome, Kotzebue.

So we there was a lot to do.

And we went out just far and wide to find people.

Sounds like that was an interesting endeavor.

Philip, have you had much acting experience before this?

I mean, you're certainly used to being on stage.

But I imagine it's quite different being on a film set than being on the stage performing as a musician.

Yeah, that's a good question.

I thought that it would translate a lot more than it actually does, and I was cast on a independent film years ago called Christmas Christmas in the Clouds, and it was featuring an Alaskan or not Alaska Native American story cast.

And it was a romantic comedy and it kind of was like the first of its kind.

And the director had seen me perform in and and asked if myself and Carina would be in it.

We got roles and we were kind of playing ourselves.

And so I thought I could adlib, you know, because it was the script was like, you know, I'm Yup'ik black.

You know, we do this music thing.

And the way she wrote it, I was like, Yeah, that's kind of like what we do.

But I thought I would just kind of ad lib it.

And then once we got into production, that's when I realized, you know, that, you know, there was a set of like 50 people, you know, doing their thing.

All of a sudden everybody stopped and they just pointed the camera at me.

And I was like, What?

What?

And there was no, you know, nothing, no prep.

And that's the one that was my crash course.

And I fumbled my lines.

And so once I got cast on True Detective, I was like, I can't repeat that.

So I was like, I have to be prepared.

So it was definitely a different it's a lot different because you're not interacting with an audience with with us on stage.

It's all up.

Especially what we do is we really lean on interacting with the audience.

And so this one, it's hard to do and you know, like you're shooting it like, like you're seeing out of sequence.

It's a whole different art form.

And that is so fascinating because I hadn't thought about the reaction that you get from the audience when you're performing really helps feed the energy.

And so now you have to just do create that energy.

I mean, that's the beauty of really great acting and strong acting.

And as we'll see, you certainly rose to it.

We'll see in that clip in a little bit.

What was it like working with Jodie Foster and Clarice?

That was for me.

I work with Kaley and my scenes, and immediately there was a mutual respect and kinship between us when we first met on Zoom.

And she's also Afro indigenous.

She's Cape Verdean and she's Wampanoag.

And so she grew up dancing, but also grew up, you know, aware of her her Afro-American, her African roots.

And so she was able to so we were able to key into that right away.

And so that gave me a really sense of comfort, you know, and, and so before we went into the scene, you know, I felt comfortable and and so I didn't know what to expect.

And it just I just kind of leaned into the people that I knew that were in it.

But because I'm playing in a new Batman and so I just kind of leaned into and remembered some of my buddies like Jesse Franks and from Pointe Hope and kind of his mannerisms.

And I was like, All right, I'm just going to kind of.

Be cool.

Like Jesse, like, how would he do it, you know?

Big thank you to Jesse for being so cool so that I could, like, you know, try to key into that character.

But that's like kind of when you're talking about representation, that's something that I think another actor who's not in a bar wouldn't really be able to have that reference.

And so that's where, you know, I really felt like I was able to like at least have those experiences to bring to the screen.

Yeah, Yeah.

And Kaylee is also a world class boxer.

And when I read that about her, that helped me better understand her forceful energy that she had in the show because she, you know, there was no doubt about how capable she was of handling whatever came her way.

And that may help me understand it based on our discussion earlier this week on Talk of Alaska.

Diane Benson called it a transformation, saying a lot of hard work has gone into gaining more control.

And as she said, showing that Alaska Native people are more than just dancing.

So talk about this, how the director worked to better understand the culture.

Do you want to start there?

Yeah.

So I think that the director isa being in casting, we really saw how how they wanted to have input from us as much as possible.

So I know that people went to different villages and different communities to see firsthand what it was like and things like that.

There are also some shots in Nome specifically that did make it into this show.

So yeah, I think there was I like that forethought in the beginning of the process that they could, you know, that they were really making an effort.

And what are your thoughts about that, Phillip?

How and for both of you, did Alaskans have much influence on design, interior exterior of homes, interactions among people?

Clearly, it wasn't shot in Alaska, but how about the other elements?

You know, I'm just an actor, so I wasn't involved with all.

Of your movie cues from 0.0. yeah.

I was just focusing on that.

But, you know, my only just as an indigenous artist and, you know, working, it just seems like the consciousness or the kind of the awareness of people is, is strengthening.

You know, the more the more we learn as a culture, we're becoming more interested in, you know, not repeating the same tropes.

And so I think a lot of a lot of times and stuff that I work with, with Bummy or with media, you know, whether we're making music for film or television or whatever project, a lot of times productions don't want to repeat the same patterns of misrepresentation.

They really don't.

And but, but there's there's almost like changing a bad habit, you know, it's kind of hard to do.

And so you really.

So I felt like this production is a good example of like working to, you know, to make the steps to figure out what those habits are and then to really, you know, to do something about it.

And I think that that's where inclusion really matters, because then you have to have people there because in any art form you have the script and you have the plan.

But then there's so much that's going to happen, inspiration in the moment and in the moment you have to make decisions and that's where you want people and the represent representation in that moment as what.

Stands with them.

Exactly.

And can make those those those subtle changes and changes in the script and and, you know, the showrunner, Isa, you know, she was not only she not only wrote it, she directed it, but as being there, she was able to adapt and the script and the story, even the direction of the story with the input, but also in the moment, like if something's not working.

And so it was really so.

So I think that, you know, people people don't want to repeat the same mistakes because, you know, we also don't want to be blamed for those kind of things as well, because that sense of accountability.

It's good.

There's that accountability.

It's important movement toward future progress and better understanding.

And respect between all people.

Let's let's watch another clip.

This is Mary Lou as Janice talking about one of the missing scientists.

And then we'll see Philip as Ryan, the brother of Annie Kay, the murdered activist.

Who would be locked.

In his room.

We can go clean in there.

He wouldn't come out.

I heard him crying.

What are the other men do when he was acting off?

They just ignored him.

It was sad.

Look, don't take this wrong.

I love my sister.

And I was like, How she was still here.

But I'm not sure do much good to go through all this again, you know.

So you don't really think that Ryan.

Hey, hey, listen to me.

You know, I know it wasn't easy for you to do any protests in the mine.

My guys going out.

It's a mess.

Yeah, we got into some shit fights.

Friends.

I told her, you kill the man, you kill Ennis.

No jobs, no mine taxes, no schools, nothing.

She didn't care.

Wow.

I have to admit, I yelled out loud when I saw both of you because it was both thrilling, but also jarring to see people that I know and have known for a long time in a major production like this.

Mary Lou You mentioned that.

Aline We were talking about how responsive it was.

You mentioned a line that you thought needed to be changed and she took your advice.

That really seems significant.

It's not like you're an A-list actor come in and demand changes.

So talk about that process.

What was the line?

Well, actually, I think that might have been Gary.

That might have said that.

But but I was there for several times that happened like that, that there was input.

There were certain scenes, even key scenes in the show, that, you know, some of us would say, you know this, we wouldn't do this or this maybe should change.

And so I don't know how much I could give away.

But but she listen and there were some key things in the script that were changed based on our input.

During Talk of Alaska, Yari Walker, who we saw in the clips, said during scenes where women were pointing guns at people.

It caused her a lot of anxiety because of past trauma in her community related to gun violence.

And the director responded in a very supportive way.

Talk about what happened in during those times when people were upset by things that just were a little too real.

Yeah.

So I don't know if there was any one of us because we were the, you know, the justice women, the justice woman on stage.

And we all had to have the scene where we handle guns.

And I don't know that there was one of us that didn't have a reaction like that.

I certainly did.

I was very triggered by it, you know, And I did the counseling that was offered by Lisa I took advantage of.

So that wasn't really expected.

So before we had this, the actual scene, we were able to have the counseling for those scenes.

And so it was it was it was very difficult sometimes.

It was very difficult to be on set.

But the support that we had from each other as actors and from the director really helped us to get through those scenes and actually feel more empowered by them.

And also toughen up.

And Princess, we had two Alaska native producers that were working and they were, you know, I know that they were guiding or they were involved to the whole process.

And of course, extremely aware of like the concerns of what the native actors were going through throughout the entire process.

Yes, Princess did advocate for that support.

Very much.

So important.

So important.

And, you know, I when we were on talk of Alaska on Tuesday, I went into it thinking, well, this will be a fun, light hearted discussion while it got and I and I was kind of mad at myself that I didn't realize, well, of course, this was a very heavy topic and a lot of issues that are so painful and longstanding in communities, in native communities.

So I should have realized that, yes, it would be.

But I admire so much that you went through all of this and still did it anyway.

And when you came out of the whole experience, you know, having some trauma related to doing this on balance, are you do you think that it the importance of getting this type of media out in front of a much larger audience kind of is worth it in that respect for some of the trauma that you had to go through?

I absolutely do, because I go into even if like even if something isn't completely authentic to me going into it with a bigger voice and knowing that there will be discussion about it, because I knew there would be talk about it, but I didn't know, number one, that the show would be as big a hit as it was and that it would lead to things like this, like us talking so for me personally, you know, having PTSD, having trauma, and I'm just now learning to find my voice, to have this platform, to have our issues be talked about and really let people out there know that we're not alone, that we do.

We can take up space.

And I'm just learning to do that I think is very powerful and very much needed, you know, in our community.

Phillip, your thoughts?

Can this this type of work kind of move the needle nationally maybe for people to have a better understanding of who we are, who we all are as people.

Especially when it's done well?

And I think that they did a great job with this of the intention of really trying to tell an authentic story that had some room for people to come up with their own, you know, have a relationship with on their own.

And that's an interactive art right there.

And if you're able to affect one person, you know, then, you know, that's a good example that, you know, now it's aired and streamed.

Now you can affect one person throughout the entire world.

And so that really, you know, that's a great responsibility with the arts.

You know, we're important part of the community.

And, you know, we're I think a lot of times we take, you know, the industry, you know, for granted that it's an important art form, good and bad.

You know, in some some ways it's like not it's not focusing on things that are really vital for the healing and the strength of our communities.

And sometimes it can be.

And I think that this is definitely one of those productions where it wasn't that the intent was there to do something good, even though it was just through a murder mystery.

And in about 30 seconds, what would you both like to see next?

my goodness.

I would actually.

Well, in terms of personally, I would really like to see this as really a stepping stone for more indigenous stories to be told and really have people get excited about telling their story and taking their space and finding their voice.

All right.

And Phillip, I think it's something, you know, like reservation dogs in on a you know, like a same kind of like authentic series.

Yeah, Yeah.

Authentic series.

And so that it's like mixing multigenerational youth humor because youth always bring humor, but then they're the ones that will tell it real.

As far as the trauma.

Thank you both so much for being here this evening.

As you heard tonight, it wasn't always easy to act in a fictional TV series that covered painful topics all too familiar to Alaska Native people.

But it is important, respectful treatment of people.

Their stories and their voice can help educate all of us.

So we build understanding and knowledge that can lead to empowerment and positive change.

That's it for this edition of Alaska Insight.

Visit our website, Alaska Public dot org for breaking news and reports from our partner stations across the state.

While you're there, sign up for our free daily Digest so you won't miss any of Alaska's top stories of the day.

Thanks for joining us this evening.

I'm Laurie Townsend.

Good night.