Why Zahn McClarnon 'broke down' over his 'Dark Winds' Season 3 arc

He whitethorn person started the 3rd play of “Dark Winds” crawling crossed the godforsaken successful the dormant of nighttime with a wounded limb and a dart stuck successful his neck, but for Zahn McClarnon’s Joe Leaphorn, things tin ever get worse. “There’s a batch astatine involvement for Joe,” said McClarnon, whose Navajo constabulary lieutenant contends with marital discord, puerility trauma and a pesky FBI investigation. “He’s made immoderate mistakes and the radical astir him are suffering due to the fact that of it. Not lone tin helium suffer his wife, played by the fantastic Deanna Allison, but helium tin besides suffer his freedom.”

The AMC series, based connected the Leaphorn & Chee novels by Tony Hillerman, follows Navajo Nation tribal cops Leaphorn, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) and Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) successful the aboriginal 1970s arsenic they lick crimes wrong a achromatic powerfulness operation that routinely devalues the lives of Native Americans.

McClarnon, speaking from Camel Rock Studios successful Santa Fe, N.M., took a interruption from filming “Dark Winds’” 4th play to speech astir caput trips, authenticity and the powerfulness of understatement.

In the surreal occurrence “Ábidoo’niidęę (What He Had Been Told),” Joe gets injected with a ketamine-tipped dart that causes him to revisit a enactment maltreatment trauma from his past. Were those sequences filmed connected a closed set?

The director, Erica Tremblay, closed the acceptable down for 1 country specifically, erstwhile I’m dealing with the clergyman and my young cousin. It was large to beryllium astir collaborators who made maine consciousness harmless successful these susceptible moments. I could relate, since I’ve had events successful my past precise akin to what Joe’s going through.

Sorry to perceive that.

No, it’s OK. It surely doesn’t specify me. But it’s the archetypal clip successful my vocation wherever I walked into my producer’s bureau astatine 1 constituent and broke down a small spot due to the fact that I was having a hard clip with those blurred lines betwixt world and pretending.

Joe’s besides trying to lick the execution of a Navajo lad portion Jenna Elfman’s FBI cause looks into the mysterious Season 2 decease of mining mogul B.J. Vines.

When Joe near B.J. Vines successful the godforsaken to die, helium benignant of did [to him] what happened to the Navajo radical successful the 1800s erstwhile the authorities enactment them connected “the Long Walk.” A batch of them starved to death, having to locomotion hundreds of miles successful bare feet successful the mediate of winter. That was Joe’s justification: “OK, you tin marque it backmost to civilization connected your own.” As a Navajo man, arsenic a principled man, Joe finds himself successful turmoil implicit that decision.

You’re No. 1 connected the telephone expanse and astir of your scenes are beauteous intense. How bash you decompress?

Usually aft a season, I spell up to my mom’s location successful Nebraska and bent retired with her. I’m 58 years aged and a batch much steadfast present than I was successful my earlier life, erstwhile I struggled with addiction. I yet got cleanable and sober 25 years ago, with assistance from a batch of people, erstwhile I had my large infinitesimal of clarity — that I deserved much than what I was doing to myself. I usage those experiences successful my acting today.

“Dark Winds” histrion Zahn McClarnon.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Your mom, who’s Lakota and your dad, who’s white, raised you and your duplicate member successful Montana adjacent Glacier National Park. How did you find your way into acting?

My dada would instrumentality america each Friday to films astatine the drive-in. Seeing “Three Days of the Condor,” “Little Fauss and Big Halsy,” “Dog Day Afternoon” — that sparked thing successful me, though I didn’t recognize until aboriginal connected that it was this tendency to explicit myself. Acting gave maine purpose.

In 2015, you made a large content successful “Fargo” arsenic the soft-spoken hitman Hanzee Dent. Like astir of your characters, helium exudes spot done restraint. That attack intelligibly works for you.

The Al Pacino I saw successful “The Godfather” was truthful understated, helium didn’t person to bash much. [I admire] that benignant of acting. For me, a batch of this worldly is interior and I conjecture it conscionable comes retired done your eyes. I cognize erstwhile I’m being honorable and erstwhile I’m not being honest, and usually, erstwhile I’m “big,” it’s not honest.

You precocious appeared successful “Reservation Dogs,” co-created by a Seminole Nation citizen, Sterlin Harjo, and you service arsenic an enforcement shaper connected “Dark Winds.” It indispensable beryllium heartening to marque shows that enactment the Native American acquisition beforehand and center.

It’s captious that Native kids are yet seeing themselves connected films and TV successful an authentic, affirmative way. With “Dark Winds,” adjacent though Tony Hillerman was a achromatic guy, we’ve recontextualized his books with a Native writers’ room, Native consultants, Native actors, Native directors. “Dark Winds” is opening doors for radical to spot america successful a antithetic mode than they’ve ever seen america before.