Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon & Jessica Matten Interview: Dark Winds Season 1
Dark Winds, based on the iconic Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman, premieres tonight on AMC with the season's first 2 episodes. The series opens on a double homicide that shocks the Navajo Nation in 1971, just as a bank robbery stumps the FBI. With two events occurring so close together, questions that they may be connected arise and the community are at the mercy of outsider interference.
Zahn McClarnon (Westworld) stars as Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, who is tasked with solving both crimes in the face of distrust from his own people and the demons from his past. He is joined by his faith second-in-command Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten, Burden of Truth) and a suspicious new deputy named Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon, Roswell, New Mexico) who has been off the reservation since leaving for college. They must band together despite initial misgivings to stave off not only the FBI, but forces as yet unknown to them.
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Screen Rant spoke to McClarnon, Gordon and Matten about getting in touch with their characters, understanding the importance of Navajo culture in the story, and mastering dialogue in the Navajo language on set with the crew.
Screen Rant: I'm loving Dark Winds, and it's so interesting seeing the story take place in the '70s. What is it like for you guys to portray that time period?
Zahn McClarnon: I was a young boy in the '70s, and they were a huge influence on my life, especially with regards to TV and film. I was very excited when I found out that we were going to take the show to 1971. It's one of my favorite decades for sure.
Jim Chee seems like such a sweet bean at first, but obviously there is a lot more to his agenda. Can you talk about how he feels
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