Chaske Spencer is an American actor. He gained prominence through his role as

Sam Uley The following is a list of characters in the Twilight (novel series), ''Twilight'' novel series by Stephenie Meyer, comprising the books ''Twilight (Meyer novel), Twilight'', ''New Moon (novel), New Moon'', ''Eclipse (Meyer novel), Eclipse'' a ...

in the ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' films (2009–2012). For his performance in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

series ''

The English The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. The English identity began with the Anglo-Saxons, when they we ...

'' (2022), he was nominated for a

British Academy Television Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1 ...

. Spencer's films include '' Shouting Secrets'' (2011), ''

Winter in the Blood ''Winter in the Blood'' is the debut novel of James Welch. It was published by Harper and Row's Native American Publishing Program in 1974. Set on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in north-central Montana during the late 1960s, ''Winter in ...

'' (2013), '' Desert Cathedral'' (2014), ''

Woman Walks Ahead ''Woman Walks Ahead'' is a 2017 biographical drama Western film directed by Susanna White and written by Steven Knight. The film is the story of Catherine Weldon (Jessica Chastain), a portrait painter who travels from New York City to the Dakot ...

'' (2017), and ''

Wild Indian ''Wild Indian'' is a 2021 American thriller film written and directed by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. The film stars Michael Greyeyes and Chaske Spencer with Jesse Eisenberg and Kate Bosworth. The film was supported by the Sundance Institute thro ...

'' (2021). He had recurring roles in the

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

series ''

Banshee A banshee ( ; Irish language, Modern Irish , from , "woman of the Tumulus#Ireland, fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or kee ...

'' (2014–2016), the Amazon Prime series ''

Sneaky Pete ''Sneaky Pete'' is an American black comedy crime drama television series created by David Shore and Bryan Cranston. The series follows Marius Josipović ( Giovanni Ribisi), a released convict who adopts the identity of his cellmate, Pete Murph ...

'' (2017–2018), and the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

crime drama '' Blindspot'' (2019–2020).

Early life and education

Spencer was born in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and grew up in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, as well as Kooskia,

Lapwai Lapwai is a city in Nez Perce County, Idaho, Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 1,137 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and it is the seat of government of the Nez Perce people#Nez Perce Indian Reservation, Ne ...

, and

Lewiston, Idaho Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's North Central Idaho, north central region. It is the third-largest city in the Idaho Panhandle, northern Idaho region, behind Post Falls, Idaho, Pos ...

. He has two younger sisters. His heritage includes

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

. He is Lakota Sioux, enrolled with the

Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux The Fort Peck Indian Reservation (, ) is located near Fort Peck, Montana, in the northeast part of the state. It is the home of several federally recognized bands of Assiniboine, Lakota, and Dakota peoples of Native Americans. With a total l ...

Tribes of Montana through his mother. Spencer graduated from

Clearwater Valley High School Clearwater Valley High School is a high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and '' ...

in 1994, where he went by the name James Spencer. As a young teen, he started acting in productions at the Lewiston Civic Theater. Spencer attended college at

Lewis–Clark State College Lewis-Clark State College is a public college in Lewiston, Idaho, United States. It was founded in 1893 and has an approximate annual enrollment of 3,600. The college offers more than 130 degrees. History In 1893, Governor William J. McConn ...

for a year, and considered a career in photography. He eventually dropped out of Lewis–Clark State College to pursue his acting career.

Career

Spencer did odd jobs while taking acting lessons from coaches David Gideon and Ed Kovens. In 2002, he made his feature film debut as a young version of

Eric Schweig Eric Schweig (born Ray Dean Thrasher; 19 June 1967) is a Canadian Inuvialuk actor best known for his role as Chingachgook's son Uncas in ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1992). Early life Schweig was born in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. He is ...

's lead character in '' Skins''. This was followed by further film roles in ''

Dreamkeeper ''Dreamkeeper'' is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (August Schellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Ch ...

'' and '' Into the West''. In 2009, Spencer played

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

in the ''

'' sequel ''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

'', based on

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...

's novel of the same name. He reprised his role in ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

, Breaking Dawn – Part 1,'' and '' Breaking Dawn – Part 2''. Spencer won two Best Actor accolades at the

American Indian Film Festival The American Indian Film Festival is an annual non-profit film festival in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the world's oldest venue dedicated solely to Native American/First Nations films and prepared the way for the 1979 formati ...

for his performances in the 2011 film '' Shouting Secrets'' and the 2013 film ''

''. He also had a role in the 2014 film '' Desert Cathedral''. After playing Deputy Billy Raven in the 2014 spinoff web series ''Banshees Origins'', Spencer reprised his role in the third season of the main

series ''

'' the following year. In 2017, Spencer starred in the film ''

'', appeared in the film ''

Walking Out ''Walking Out'' is a 2017 American survival drama film directed by Alex & Andrew J. Smith, starring Matt Bomer, and based on a short story of the same name by David Quammen. It was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of the 2017 ...

'', and had a recurring role as Chayton Dockery in the

series ''

''. He went on to have another recurring role as Dominic Masters in the fourth and fifth seasons of the

crime drama '' Blindspot''. Spencer starred in the 2021 thriller film ''

'', for which he was nominated for an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

. The following year, he starred opposite

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Laura Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Emily Blunt, several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition t ...

in the Western miniseries ''

'', produced for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

and

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. For his performance, Spencer was nominated for the

British Academy Television Award for Best Actor This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actor. The Best Actor award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until 1962, when Rupert Davies won for his performance in ''Mai ...

Personal life

During his teens, Spencer had struggles with substance abuse and

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

. He continued to drink heavily during his college years. He later developed an addiction to

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

, and checked into rehab. While in rehab, Spencer stopped taking drugs. He nearly gave up on acting before his agent called him to audition for ''

'', the sequel to ''

.''

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

* ''

Red Dead Revolver ''Red Dead Revolver'' is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first entry in the ''Red Dead'' series, and was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in May 2004. Set in the 188 ...

'' (2004), Various

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Chaske Spencer - MIPtalk.com Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Chaske Living people Lakota male actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors People from Lewiston, Idaho American people of Cherokee descent American people of Dutch descent American people of French descent Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes people Native American male actors Native American people from Montana Native American people from Oklahoma Year of birth missing (living people)