Chaske Spencer isn’t just the alpha we want, he’s the alpha we need.
Ever since he came growling across our screen as Sam Uley, the leader of the Quileute shape-shifter (werewolf) pack in the cult classic Twilight saga, this BUST Boy Du Jour has had a grip on our hearts that just won’t let go. And for good reason.
A powerful actor in his own right and a galvanizing force in ensuring that positive indigenous representation in media is commonplace, Spencer’s career has been a long journey of overcoming challenges in an ever-evolving film industry. Recognizing this as a pivotal time in pop culture to educate, the actor is not squandering his opportunity to eradicate the harmful stereotypes he grew up watching.
Much like with his activism, Spencer is known for giving each of his roles his absolute all. This dedication has not gone unrecognized: the esteemed performer has won two Best Actor accolades at the American Indian Film Festival for both the 2011 film Shouting Secrets and the 2013 film Winter in the Blood; his role in 2021’s Wild Indian earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Male at the Independent Spirit Awards; he was also nominated for Best Actor at the British Academy Television Awards for his starring role in the 2022 series The English, opposite Emily Blunt.
His current leading role in Peacock’s upcoming horror series Teacup promises to be one of his best yet. Inspired by the New York Times best-selling novel Stinger by Robert McCammon, the show follows a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive.
From his early days struggling on off-off Broadway plays and working catering jobs to becoming Henry “Black Crow” Lopez in Marvel’s Echo and introducing us to his newest character in Teacup, Spencer has helped carve his own reality, one that seemed barely realizable during the less inclusive days of Hollywood not long ago. We spoke with the actor about the new series, inclusivity, and “collecting people.”
How are you different at the end of working on Teacup, and how did it affect you as an artist?
Usually after I wrap a character, I take four days to myself to cleanse it all out, to brush all of that character away. I don’t think I’ve ever been a series regular at all, so that was different, and I enjoyed it very much. I walked away with more of an appreciation for how you set a tone for horror, and how the directors we worked with would use their knowledge to make the experience more suspenseful. I just had a wonderful time.
How does the psychology of always going for the next gig affect you? Do you look back on your work and feel accomplished, or do you always kind of feel like you’re only as worthy as the next job?
When I got into this business, the best advice I received was that this is a long-game business. People told me that if you work on your craft, it’s a 10-year thing if you’re lucky. I have to say that what they told me kind of came true. For a career, it goes up and down and up and down. Sometimes you’re doing roles you love and sometimes you do roles to pay the bills. When I look back on my career, I’m really surprised at how much I’ve done, because it just seems like yesterday I got my SAG card.
When I started off in this, I knew I couldn’t have a Plan B. It was all or nothing. It’s that saying, I burned my [bridges]. I moved to New York City with just 100 bucks. I found a catering job. Because I was in my early 20s, I didn’t mind being broke, you know? I didn’t mind trying to find my next meal as a struggling actor. I knew I was going to do this once I made the decision to do this. I just had a gut feeling that I should go this route. Something about my gut feeling told me to just do it and I listened to it.
At the beginning it’s very scary. But if I landed anything, that would keep me going. I did a lot of plays that were completely off-Broadway for no pay. No one came to see them, but I did it for the experience. You take it one day at a time and one gig at a time. Even if it was just an extra on a film, I thought, you know, that’s a good win for me.
Since Twilight, it’s been just a whole different land of appreciation and gratitude, but there’s still fear. I mean, every gig I go into, it always feels like my last. I’ve never had that feeling go away, and it’s okay. I use that feeling. It gives me motivation to try to get the role. Fear is a big motivation in my career.
I loved Echo. I wanted to ask you how it feels to have a production legitimately take care of the cast inclusively and accurately. You’ve had such a long career, so you’ve seen an evolution in sensitivities.
I have. There was a time when, you know, being a Native American actor, I couldn’t get cast as a Native American. There was a time when I couldn’t even play myself. They would always cast white actors. I get it. It was difficult for me in the beginning, but as times change, more doors open. What I liked about Echo is that it opened up a lot of doors for people to see inside other peoples’ worlds that they wouldn’t normally be exposed to.
And I like that Disney and Marvel did that, because when I was a kid, I didn’t see much of that. You know, my heroes weren’t Native American at all; they were a lot of the white boy actors. I loved working with all the Native actors and seeing how the crew treated everyone on that set with respect. To me, it felt like it was a long time coming. I felt at home. I felt very comfortable.
Do you notice a difference between when you’re on set and off and how you observe people or how you feel in the world, or are you always kind of studying or taking it in?
When I was growing up, I moved around a lot. I was never the popular kid. I was always the outsider. I used to hate it. Somewhere along the way I started being an observer more than trying to be a participator. I don’t like being in the middle of anything. I’d rather be on the outside, on the fringes, because I find a lot of information when I’m observing. I’ve always been a loner. For me as an actor, I’m comfortable in that world. I get a lot of my information when I just shut the fuck up and listen and watch. You can tell a lot about people with their stories. Throughout my travels, I picked up people along the way, their personalities.
One of my favorite actors is David Bowie. What I love about Bowie is that he was constantly changing, constantly evolving. Bowie said, “I collect people.” I relate to that. I collect people. I think that’s one of my gifts, to just be able to put myself in other people’s shoes and try the best I can to try to interpret what they’re doing. You never notice me, but I’m always watching people, and that’s what I love about what I do. I get to observe.
Catch Teacup streaming on Peacock Oct 10th
Images Via Emily Assiran
