Devery Jacobs was born and raised in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, a First Nations reservation 20-or-so minutes outside of Montreal. Growing up Native and queer, she didn't see herself or anyone like her reflected in the movies or TV she was watching, but still, "I think I came out of the womb inadvertently knowing that I wanted to be an actor. I couldn't help it," Jacobs says.
"My first role was playing a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz in the Turtle Island Theater Company's production, which is a summer camp on my rez," she recounts. "It was something I always knew that was a part of myself. My family on my dad's side are all performers. It was very much a part of who I am. I can't help my Leo self."
Despite her innate love of performing, Jacobs attended John Abbott College, where she studied correctional intervention with the intention of becoming a social worker. She was working at the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal and had nearly given up on acting when she landed her first leading role in 2013's Rhymes for Young Ghouls.
"I really had convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to make it in this industry — that I wouldn't be able to find success — but also that I wasn't good enough," Jacobs reflects. "I am not classically trained. I didn't go to theater school. I was really intimidated by acting after I had seen the depths of what it means to have a nuanced performance, and I really didn't think that I had the chops. But everything changed when I was cast in Rhymes for Young Ghouls by the late and great Indigenous filmmaker Jeff Barnaby. From that point on, I had proved to myself that I can do this, that I love it, and that I actually can't do anything else with my life."
Jacobs broke out starring on Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi's Peabody Award-winning series, Reservation Dogs, going on to join the writer's room in season two and direct an episode in season three. Her latest movie, Backspot, is directed by D.W. Waterson and stars Jacobs as a queer high school cheerleader chosen to compete on an all-star squad. The film is the first under their production banner, Night Is Y, and so it's no coincidence that it spotlights Indigenous and LGBTQ2S+ characters.
"I've been somebody who's been wearing many hats for many years. Originally, it was out of necessity, because there were so few roles that I really connected with as an actor that existed for Indigenous actors and actresses," Jacobs says. "I remember thinking to myself, 'Why am I waiting for these roles to come up when I have a perfectly capable voice of my own?' That was really the initial spark that launched me into writing and directing and producing. And since then I have gotten a taste for what it means to have that sense of control — to be able to help shepherd the vision from the original inklings of an idea until audiences are sitting down and watching it on the big screen — and there's something really addictive about that sense of power, but also ownership."
Below, Jacobs shares with A.frame her five favorite films.
Directed and Written by: Andrea Arnold
I initially watched this when doing research for my very first leading role, in a film called Rhymes for Young Ghouls. The late and great Jeff Barnaby had given me a series of references to watch before playing Aila: Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hit Girl from Kickass, Jennifer Lawrence's character in Winter's Bone, and Mia from Fish Tank.
It was my introduction to Arnold's work, and it still remains my favorite film to this day. (Mind you, I'm also obsessed with Wasp and American Honey.) Fish Tank is fierce and raw and shocking, but so, so tender. I loved her chaotic portrayal of burgeoning womanhood.
Directed and Written by: Taika Waititi
Taika is known for many projects, but my favorite of his will always be Boy. Combining humor and heartbreak, this movie felt like home. Despite being set in New Zealand in a Māori community, it felt as if this story were plucked straight from my rez, from my family. Taika's ability to deal with difficult conversations, though the lens of a child is positively unparalleled.
Directed and Written by: Cheryl Dunye
I only recently saw this film, during a summer screening of the Queer Cinema Club in Toronto, and it touched me in a way that has never left. I'm glad I watched it in a theater, because my 21st-century attention span might not have allowed me to keep my undivided focus on this slow burn of a film. The Watermelon Woman is just as relevant and revolutionary today as it was then; the longing for queer history from your own community, the commentary on white queers, the fashion?!
Dunye reveals at the end, "Sometimes, you have to create your own history. The Watermelon Woman is fiction." And in that, the filmmaker created the history she, and we, all needed.
Directed by: Miloš Forman | Written by: Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman
Admittedly, I enjoy the novel more than I do the film, namely because it follows Chief Bromden as the narrator and observant protagonist through the story. But Jack Nicholson's work was brilliant, and Will Sampson made great strides in putting us on the map in Hollywood. His Juicy Fruit scene is especially iconic.
This film also feels really personal to me; I have family members who suffer from mental illness. Cuckoo's Nest brings up many complicated feelings, but is a film I feel incredibly connected to.
Directed and Written by: Hayao Miyazaki
When I tell you, I used to run around my backyard with a broomstick trying to fly, it was because of this movie. I never owned a copy of Kiki's Delivery Service, but I used to rent it religiously from my rez's local video store; a blockbuster knockoff that eventually turned into an internet cafe, that also sold beads for beadworking — classic Kahnawà:ke!
What I connected most with was the mundanity in Kiki’s magic; that she used it to help deliver baked goods and to overcome her self doubt. I especially appreciated how Miyazaki drew parallels between magic and art; as Kiki suffers from creative burnout, she's no longer able to fly, and she learns that her gifts must be nurtured rather than over-exploited. Honestly, I could still stand to learn a thing or two from this film.
