Adam Beach breaks barriers

Published Jan 21, 2008

3 Articles; 6,621 Posts

Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

hollywood indian.

the term makes adam beach bristle. "it's such a stereotype," he says. "and yet, how do you get people away from it?"

his solution: play a detective on "law & order: special victims unit" who just happens to be mohawk. beach plays detective chester lake, who is mohawk, on the show.

"in one year on that show," he says, "i did what i've been trying to do in 17 -- create a different perception of who we are as indian people. it's amazing."

growing up in canada, beach longed to have johnny depp's career. "on '21 jump street,' he played different characters involved with different high schools. i wanted to live a different life, too. coming from the second worst neighborhood in canada, i wanted more.

"the neighborhood was predominantly native and 80 percent of them went to jail."

today, the 35-year-old says, he acts because he wants to be a role model for other native kids. "i never saw myself as tom cruise or wanting to have a certain stature. i just wanted to evolve and be the best i could be."

true to form, his resume has gotten more impressive every year. in 2006, he was key to clint eastwood's "flags of our fathers." this week, he plays blue duck, the outcast son of a comanche warrior in "comanche moon," a prequel to the award-winning "lonesome dove." ("that's got to be one of the worst names," he says with a laugh.)

but the prestige factor of the miniseries can't be ignored -- it's written by oscar winners larry mcmurtry and diana ossana and it stars val kilmer, steve zahn and rachel griffiths. best of all, it's one of those network cornerstones that could spell big ratings in the cold of winter.

adam also played a lead role in hbo's "bury my heart at wounded knee"

adam beach

[color=#503d22]hbo: what were your initial thoughts about bury my heart at wounded knee?

adam beach: i knew coming into the project that obviously this story needs to be told from the perspective of how the [u.s.] government was involved in trying to take the lands of the indians and resettle them on these reservation systems. but also show the struggles that indian people have with just standing up for their sovereign right as peoples. and the importance of showing this is just enormous. we need to tell this story.

now, back to his role in law & order:

television? "it's an extension of who you are. when i joined 'law & order' the other actors said, 'just be yourself. try not to overanalyze who the character is. they want you.'"

beach heeded the advice but found himself copying christopher meloni's speech patterns. "i sounded like him," he says. "he said, 'hey, adam...don't come in and do the same thing i'm doing.' i figured, he's the lead actor, you don't want to overstep his boundaries, you want to complement what he does. so i listened and now i'm more like me."

full articles: http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/01/11/entertainment/local/65e3b1ff3a8bbd1b862573cc00762cb9.txt

http://www.hbo.com/films/burymyheart/interviews/index.html