Irene Bedard

Irene Bedard (born July 22, 1967) is an American actress who has played many Native American characters in a variety of films. She is perhaps best known for the role of Suzy Song in the film adaptation of Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals as well as for providing the voice of the title character in the animated film Pocahontas.
In 2012, she started "Sleeping Lady Films" and "Waking Giants Productions" with Canadian businessman Thom Denomme. The production companies, based out of Anchorage and Santa Fe, New Mexico, are dedicated to bringing stories that are both positive and inspirational from Indian Country to the world.[citation needed]
== Early life and career ==
Bedard was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and is of Inupiat, Yupik, Inuit, Cree and Métis ancestry. Her first role was as Mary Crow Dog in the television production, Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee, which depicted the 1970s standoff between the US government and citizens of several Native nations, including many of the Pine Ridge Reservation, at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. She is probably best known as the voice of the eponymous heroine in the Disneyanimated film Pocahontas and its direct-to-video sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. Bedard was also the physical model for the character. She appeared in a different take of the story in Terence Malick's 2005 film The New World, as Pocahontas's mother, Nonoma Winanuske Matatiske. Bedard attended The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she studied Musical Theatre. In 2005, she was cast in the television mini-series Into the West, portraying the half-Lakota, half-white adult Margaret "Light Shines" Wheeler.[citation needed] In the 2017 music video for "Family Feud" (a song by Jay-Z), she plays a Co-President of the United States in the future.[2][3]
She was chosen in 1995 as one of People magazine's '50 Most Beautiful People'.[4]
== Personal life ==
Bedard married singer Deni Wilson in 1993. They have a son, Quinn Wilson born in 2003. In November 2010, it was revealed that Bedard was being sexually and physically abused by Wilson throughout their marriage, taking her earnings and forbidding her to work in her career field, unless he specifically approved the project, said her niece Alia Davis. The couple eventually divorced in 2012.[5]
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Award 	Category 	Film 	Result
1995	Golden Globe 	Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV	Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee	Nominated
1995	Western Heritage Awards 	Bronze Wrangler - Television Feature Film 	Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee	Won
1999	Western Heritage Awards 	Bronze Wrangler - Television Feature Film 	Two for Texas 	Won
2004	American Indian LA Film and TV Awards	Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film 	Greasewood Flat 	Won
2006	NAMIC Vision Awards 	Best Dramatic Performance 	Into the West 	Won
2006	Western Heritage Awards 	Bronze Wrangler - Television Feature Film 	Into the West 	Won
== Filmography ==
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1994 	Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee 	Mary Crow Dog 	TV movie
1994 	Squanto: A Warrior's Tale 	Nakooma 	
1995 	The Marshal 	Melissa Carey 	1 episode: "Twoslip"
1995 	Pocahontas 	Pocahontas (voice) 	
1996 	Grand Avenue 	Reyna 	TV movies
1996 	Crazy Horse 	Black Buffalo Woman 	TV movies
1996 	Adventures from the Book of Virtues 	Morning Light and Sharp Eyes / Chief's Daughter (voice)	2 episodes: "Honesty" and "Perseverance"
1996 	The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest 	Alice Starseer 	2 episodes: "Return of the Anasazi"; "Trouble on the Colorado"
1996 	Navajo Blues 	Audrey Wyako 	
1997 	Song of Hiawatha 	Minnehaha 	
1997 	Profiler 	Maddy Duvall 	1 episode: "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
1997 	Det store flip 	Oglala 	AKA, Wild Flowers
1997 	True Women 	Tobe 	TV movie
1998 	6/29 	Laura Cooper 	
1998 	Naturally Native 	Tanya Lewis 	
1998 	Smoke Signals 	Suzy Song 	
1998 	Two for Texas 	Sana 	TV movie
1998 	Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World 	Pocahontas (voice) 	Direct-to-video
1998 	12 Bucks 	Babe 	
1999 	Blood Money 	Naomi Lister 	TV movie
1999 	Wildflowers 	Ruby 	
1999 	Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles	General Miriam Redwing (voice) 	4 episodes (1999–2001)
2000 	Pussykat 	 	
2000 	The Lost Child 	Grace 	TV movie
2001 	Your Guardian 	Katherine 'Kat' Damon 	
2001 	The Outer Limits 	Callie Whitehorse Landau 	1 episode: "In the Blood"
2001 	The Agency 	Diah Siagian 	1 episode: "The Year of Living Dangerously"
2003 	Paris 	Sandy 	
2003 	Greasewood Flat 	Abbey 	
2003 	Edge of America 	Annie Shorty 	TV movie
2004 	What's New, Scooby-Doo? 	Cody Long (voice) 	1 episode: "New Mexico, Old Monster"
2005 	Planting Melvin 	Billie Lawrence 	
2005 	Higglytown Heroes 	Forest Ranger Hero (voice) 	1 episode: "Fran Takes a Hike/Mystery at Kip's House"
2005 	Into the West 	Margaret Light Shines 	4 episodes: "Hell on Wheels"; "Casualties of War"; "Ghost Dance"
2005 	Miracle at Sage Creek 	Sunny 	
2005 	Love's Long Journey 	Miriam Red Hawk McClain 	TV movie
2005 	The New World 	Pocahontas's Mother (Nonoma) 	
2007 	Cosmic Radio 	K.C. 	
2007 	Tortilla Heaven 	Liberata 	
2007 	The Red Chalk 	Eve 	
2008 	Turok: Son of Stone 	Catori (voice) 	Direct-to-video
2008 	The Spectacular Spider-Man 	Jean DeWolff (voice) 	4 episodes (2008–2009)
2011 	The Tree of Life 	Messenger 	
2011 	Timberwolf 	Eleni 	Pre-Production
2012 	Young Justice: Invasion 	Shelly Longshadow (voice) 	1 episode
2012–2015	Longmire 	May Stillwater 	3 episodes
2013 	Vertical 	Lucy Mills 	
2014 	Ron and Laura Take Back America 	Mrs. Alma 	
2015 	Songs My Brothers Taught Me 	Lisa Winters 	
2017 	The Mist 	Kimi Lucero 	Recurring (9 episodes)
2017 	Spreading Darkness 	Marci Gippolin 	
2018 	Family Feud 	Co-President of the United States 	Music video
2018 	Westworld 	Wichapi 	1 episode: "Kiksuya"
2018 	Ralph Breaks the Internet 	Pocahontas (voice) 	
2018 	The Bygone 	Ms. Call 	In production