Irene Bedard

Irene Bedard
Bedard at a pow wow in Livingston, Texas, June 2007.
Born	(1967-07-22) July 22, 1967 Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Notable work	Voice of Pocahontas in Disney's Pocahontas (1995–present), Suzy Song in Smoke Signals, Margaret in Into the West
Spouse	Deni Wilson ​ ​ (m. 1993; div. 2012)​
Children	1

Irene Bedard (born July 22, 1967) is an American actress who has played many Native American characters in a variety of films. She is perhaps best known for the role of Suzy Song in the film adaptation of Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals as well as for providing the voice of the title character in the animated film Pocahontas.

In 2012, she started "Sleeping Lady Films" and "Waking Giants Productions" with Canadian businessman Thom Denomme. The production companies, based out of Anchorage and Santa Fe, New Mexico, are dedicated to bringing stories that are both positive and inspirational from Indian Country to the world.

Early life and career

Bedard was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and is of Inupiat, Yupik, Inuit, Cree and Métis ancestry. Her first role was as Mary Crow Dog in the television production, Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee, which depicted the 1970s standoff between police and Native Americans, many of the Pine Ridge Reservation, at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. She is probably best known as the voice of the eponymous heroine in the Disney animated film Pocahontas and its direct-to-video sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. Bedard was also the physical model for the character. She appeared in a different take of the story in Terence Malick's 2005 film The New World, as Pocahontas's mother, Nonoma Winanuske Matatiske. Bedard attended The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she studied Musical Theatre. In 2005, she was cast in the television mini-series Into the West, portraying the half-Lakota, half-white adult Margaret "Light Shines" Wheeler. In the 2017 music video for "Family Feud" (a song by Jay-Z), she plays a Co-President of the United States in the future.

She was chosen in 1995 as one of People magazine's '50 Most Beautiful People'.

Personal life

Bedard married singer Deni Wilson in 1993. They have a son, Quinn Wilson born in 2003. In November 2010, it was revealed that Bedard was being sexually and physically abused by Wilson throughout their marriage, taking her earnings and forbidding her to work in her career field, unless he specifically approved the project, said her niece Alia Davis. The couple eventually divorced in 2012.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1995	Golden Globe	Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV	Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee	Nominated
	Western Heritage Awards	Bronze Wrangler - Television Feature Film		Won
1999			Two for Texas	Won
2004	American Indian LA Film and TV Awards	Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film	Greasewood Flat	Won
2006	NAMIC Vision Awards	Best Dramatic Performance	Into The West	Won
	Western Heritage Awards	Bronze Wrangler - Television Feature Film		Won

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee	Mary Crow Dog	TV movie
	Squanto: A Warrior's Tale	Nakooma
1995	The Marshal	Melissa Carey	1 episode: "Twoslip"
	Pocahontas	Pocahontas (voice)
1996	Grand Avenue	Reyna	TV movies
	Crazy Horse	Black Buffalo Woman
	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Morning Light and Sharp Eyes / Chief's Daughter (voice)	2 episodes: "Honesty" and "Perseverance"
	The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	Alice Starseer	2 episodes: "Return of the Anasazi"; "Trouble on the Colorado"
	Navajo Blues	Audrey Wyako
1997	Song of Hiawatha	Minnehaha
	Profiler	Maddy Duvall	1 episode: "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
	Det store flip	Oglala	AKA, Wild Flowers
	True Women	Tobe	TV movie
1998	6/29	Laura Cooper
	Naturally Native	Tanya Lewis
	Smoke Signals	Suzy Song
	Two for Texas	Sana	TV movie
	Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World	Pocahontas (voice)	Direct-to-video
	12 Bucks	Babe
1999	Blood Money	Naomi Lister	TV movie
	Wildflowers	Ruby
	Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles	General Miriam Redwing (voice)	4 episodes (1999–2001)
2000	Pussykat
	The Lost Child	Grace	TV movie
2001	Your Guardian	Katherine 'Kat' Damon
	The Outer Limits	Callie Whitehorse Landau	1 episode: "In the Blood"
	The Agency	Diah Siagian	1 episode: "The Year of Living Dangerously"
2003	Paris	Sandy
	Greasewood Flat	Abbey
	Edge of America	Annie Shorty	TV movie
2004	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Cody Long (voice)	1 episode: "New Mexico, Old Monster"
2005	Planting Melvin	Billie Lawrence
	Higglytown Heroes	Forest Ranger Hero (voice)	1 episode: "Fran Takes a Hike/Mystery at Kip's House"
	Into the West	Margaret Light Shines	4 episodes: "Hell on Wheels"; "Casualties of War"; "Ghost Dance"
	Miracle at Sage Creek	Sunny
	Love's Long Journey	Miriam Red Hawk McClain	TV movie
	The New World	Pocahontas's Mother (Nonoma)
2007	Cosmic Radio	K.C.
	Tortilla Heaven	Liberata
	The Red Chalk	Eve
2008	Turok: Son of Stone	Catori (voice)	Direct-to-video
	The Spectacular Spider-Man	Jean DeWolff (voice)	4 episodes (2008–2009)
2011	The Tree of Life	Messenger
	Timberwolf	Eleni	Pre-Production
2012	Young Justice: Invasion	Shelly Longshadow (voice)	1 episode
2012-2015	Longmire	May Stillwater	3 episodes
2013	Vertical	Lucy Mills
2014	Ron and Laura Take Back America	Mrs. Alma
2015	Songs My Brothers Taught Me	Lisa Winters
2017	The Mist	Kimi Lucero	Recurring (9 episodes)
	Spreading Darkness	Marci Gippolin
2018	Family Feud	Co-President of the United States	Music video
	Westworld	Wichapi	1 episode: "Kiksuya"
	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Pocahontas (voice)	In production
	The Bygone	Ms. Call	In production

External links

• Irene Bedard Biography at who2.com
• Irene Bedard at IMDb
• Irene Bedard at AllMovie