MICHAEL GREYEYES

THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE THE YEAR OF MICHAEL GREYEYES.

Back in January the Canadian Plains Cree actor added another significant credit to an impressive résumé that already included Smoke Signals, The New World, Woman Walks Ahead, and HBO’s True Detective and I Know This Much is True: He took top billing in Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.’s Wild Indian, a contemporary drama that debuted at Sundance Film Festival and is slated for theatrical release this fall. Greyeyes earned rave reviews for his mesmerizing performance as Michael Peterson, a.k.a. Makwa, a Native American businessman determined to cover up, by any means necessary, a violent episode from his youth.

Since April, Greyeyes has been playing for laughs — and playing for keeps — as Terry Thomas, prominent member of the (fictional) Minishonka Nation, in Rutherford Falls, the critically acclaimed Peacock TV sitcom costarring Ed Helms and Jana Schmieding. As CEO of the Minishonka casino near the show’s titular town in upstate New York, Terry strikes a deft balance between his roles as hard-driving businessman and champion of his people. In both pursuits, he often finds himself at loggerheads with Nathan Rutherford (Helms), a proud descendant of the town’s founder, and eager to make an ally of Nathan’s longtime friend, Reagan Wells (Schmieding), a historically conscious Minishonka who’s eager to expand a cultural center that’s currently located in a small room of Terry’s casino.

In May, Greyeyes took home the Best Actor prize at the Canadian Screen Awards for his commanding portrayal of Traylor, the tribal sheriff who leads the fight for his people when their reservation is under siege during a zombie. (You could say this was his rematch against the undead, after his 2017 run as Qaletaqa Walker on TV’s .)