Hollywood newcomer Amber Midthunder stunned at the premiere of Hulu’s “Pre” in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
“It’s from the Sky-Eagle collection,” she tells me of her dress on the arrivals carpet at the Village Regency Theater in Westwood. “Throughout this entire press tour, it’s always been very important for me to include an indigenous designer or jewelry or something like that. So every look I’ve seen is something indigenous.”
“Pre” the fifth film in the “Predator” franchise takes place in the Comanche Nation in 1717. Midthunder, who is an enrolled tribal member at Fort Peck Assiniboine and the Sioux Indian Reservation, plays Naru, a young warrior saving his clan. From a hunter (Dane Diligro).
Here, Midthunder talks more about his fashion choices, working with an all-original cast and what it was like dubbing the film in Comanche.
Why was it so important to incorporate indigenous designs into your red carpet looks?
It was never a question for me. Indigenous artists and Indigenous creators have so much to offer and are truly an untapped resource – be it fashion or filmmaking or business. When you look at our art and our clothing, we have things you don’t often see, whether it’s patterns or materials like shells and beads or clay paints. It’s really fun to be able to incorporate this into urban fashion.
How was the first day on set, when you looked around and saw that all the leads were natives?
It was very unreal. Just thinking about it gives me chills. The first day we got there, everyone was in their own clothes and I looked around and saw tepees and people in their skins. It just became so transcendent and so real. At some point in history, things really looked like this. It was exactly the same for some of my ancestors. It was amazing to see and think about what we were getting into.
What was it like dubbing a film in Comanche?
The film was originally designed to be shot entirely in Comanche. When we auditioned, we did all our scenes in English and Comanche to make sure we could do it and how it played out. We ended up doing the film in English, but going back to Comanche is very special as far as language preservation is concerned. We too are making history. No film has ever been released in an original dub on the original release.
I think this is a huge victory and a great thing that we can claim as people. And just for me to be familiar with the Comanche language — it’s not like that language at all [with] — it felt like a personal gift to me that I’m also so closely acquainted with the culture and the language.