Martin Sensmeier (born June 27, 1985) is a Native American actor and model. An

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

, he is

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

and Koyukon Athabascan. Sensmeier is known for playing various Native American roles. He starred in the 2016 remake ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay, credited to William Roberts, is a remake – in an Old West-style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself init ...

'' and had a recurring role as "Wanahton" in the HBO television series ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction dystopia media franchise that began with the Westworld (film), 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild West, Wild-West-th ...

'' (2018). More recently, he has played a physical therapist in the TV series ''

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

'' and a Comanche warrior named Sam in the prequel ''

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

'', both directed by Taylor Sheridan.

Early life

Sensmeier was born in 1985 in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, to Raymond and Eva Sensmeier, but was raised in Yakutat. His father is

and

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

, while his mother is Koyukon

Athabascan Athabaskan ( ; also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large branch of the Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, ...

from Ruby, Alaska, on the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

. Sensmeier identifies with the cultures of his Alaska Native grandmothers, which his parents stressed. Martin’s paternal grandfather, Gilbert Michael Sensmeier, was born in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

of German descent. He is a citizen of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

Career

Sensmeier began his working career as a welder, then worked on an oil rig for Doyon Drilling. He quit to pursue an acting career in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. There and in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Sensmeier worked as a professional model; he gradually found work as an actor in Los Angeles. His first feature film was the

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller '' Beyond the Sky''. He appeared in a leading role, as one of the "seven", in the 2016 feature film ''

'', a remake of an earlier version. In 2017, Sensmeier was cast in the lead role in the biopic ''The Chickasaw Rancher'', portraying Montford Johnson (

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

), a man who built a ranching empire near the

Chisholm Trail The Chisholm Trail ( ) was a stock trail and wagon route used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in southern Texas, across the Red River into Indian Territory, and northward to rail stops in Kansas. The trail cons ...

. That year he also had a role as Chip Hanson in the film '' Wind River'', and will reprise the role in the upcoming sequel '' Wind River: The Next Chapter''. Sensmeier joined the cast in the second (2018) season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

television series ''

'', in the recurring role of ''Wanahton''. In 2020, he took on the role of Chief Eddy in the original English version of the video game '' Tell Me Why'' from

Dontnod Entertainment Don't Nod Entertainment SA (formerly traded as Dontnod Entertainment) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in June 2008, it started development on '' Remember Me'' (2013). Because of its poor return on investm ...

. The game is set in Alaska and the character belongs to the indigenous Tlingit people, as does Sensmeier. More recently, he has played a physical therapist in Season 2 of Taylor Sheridan's ''

'', the four-season saga of the Dutton family and their patriarch's determination to keep the ranch intact, and the character of Sam, a Comanche warrior, in ''

'', Sheridan's prequel to ''

''. ''

'' centers on a group of covered-wagon settlers seeking a new life in Oregon after banding together in Texas. It stars Sam Elliot,

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

& newcomer Isabel May as Elsa Dutton, the series narrator and love interest of Sam's. In 2023, Sensmeier starred in the western thriller Cottonmouth (film), which is set for release in 2024.

Personal life

Sensmeier is a member of the Native Wellness Institute, a youth advocacy group. He is proud of his Alaska Native heritage. Sensmeier and partner Kahara Hodges have two children, born 2020 and 2022.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sensmeier, Martin 1985 births Living people American people of Koyukon descent Male actors from Anchorage, Alaska Native American male actors Tlingit people American people of German descent Male models from Alaska Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes people Alaska Native actors 21st-century Alaska Native people