Wes Studi & Adam Beach To Star In Thriller ‘American/Indian’ From Filmmaker Peter Curtis Pardini

Matt Grobar
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Honorary Academy Award winner Wes Studi (The Last of The Mohicans, Hostiles) and SAG Award, NAACP Image Award and Golden Globe nominee Adam Beach (Smoke Signals, The Power of the Dog) have signed on to star in the thriller American/Indian from writer-director Peter Curtis Pardini.

Set in the wake of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the film follows twin brothers Slim and Joe Gresham (both played by Studi), products of the Indian Boarding School system, who have taken very different paths in life. Joe is now a popular U.S. Congressman about to step down to lead the transformation of their tribe’s bingo hall into an expansive (and lucrative) casino resort, while Slim works behind the scenes as a brutal enforcer who ensures everything and everyone stays in line for his brother, no matter the cost. What follows is a dark and thrilling tale of wealth, deceit, and excess.

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Pardini, Sebastian Robertson and Katherine Muise are producing for Sonder Entertainment with Jonathan Keasey and and J. Brad Wilke for Mind Riot Entertainment.

“The entirety of this story intrigues me,” said Studi, “and I can’t wait to get started.”

“I can’t wait to bring American/Indian to the screen,” said Pardini. “The opportunity to direct Wes Studi and Adam Beach in this setting and time period has been six years in the making and I couldn’t be happier to be working with Sebastian, Katherine, Jonathan, and Brad.”

“As a descendant of the Mohawk Tribe from the Six Nations, it’s an honor and a duty to give voice to and collaborate with my fellow Native Americans,” added Robertson. “The portrayal of my indigenous brothers and sisters in this film is one of strength and I thank Peter for his thoughtful script.”

Studi earned his Honorary Oscar in 2020. The actor is known for turns in films including Soul, Hostiles, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Being Flynn, Avatar, Call of the Wild, Mystery Men, Heat, Street Fighter, The Last of the Mohicans and Dancing with Wolves, among others. His TV credits include Reservation Dogs, Miracle Workers, Grey’s Anatomy, Woke, Penny Dreadful, The Red Road, Hell on Wheels, Kings, Comanche Moon and Streets of Laredo.

Beach’s film credits include Swan Song, 2022 Best Picture Oscar nominee The Power of the Dog, Percy Vs Goliath, The New Mutants, Hostiles, Suicide Squad, Cowboys & Aliens, Flags of Our Fathers, Four Brothers, The Big Empty, Smoke Signals, Posers, Joe Dirt and the acclaimed TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. He’s appeared on the TV side in Nancy Drew, Backstrom, Arctic Air, Big Love and more.

Pardini is a writer, director and editor whose past films through Sonder include Rolling Thunder and Fat: A Documentary. Mind Riot has produced the TV series Give Me Shelter, among other projects.

Studi is represented by Innovative Artists and Michael Black Management; Beach by Buchwald, Red Management and Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo; Pardini by Josh Escovedo at Weintraub Tobin; Mind Riot Entertainment by Katrina Brede and Bracepoint Law; Keasey by Circle of Confusion and Hirsch, Wallerstein, Hayum; and Wilke by Mind Riot Entertainment and Bracepoint Law.

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