‘Dark Winds’: Jessica Matten Joins AMC Series From Graham Roland, George R.R. Martin & Robert Redford

EXCLUSIVE: Indigenous actress Jessica Matten (Tribal) is set as a series regular opposite Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon and Noah Emmerich in Dark Winds, AMC’s Western noir thriller series based on Tony Hillerman’s popular Leaphorn & Chee book series. It hails from creator Graham Roland and executive producers George R.R. Martin and Robert Redford.

Created and executive produced by Roland, Dark Winds, which has a six-episode order, is a psychological thriller that follows two Navajo police officers, Leaphorn (McClarnon) and Chee (Gordon), in the 1970s Southwest as their search for clues in a grisly double-murder case forces them to challenge their own spiritual beliefs and come to terms with the trauma of their pasts. Season 1 is expected to premiere on AMC+ and AMC in 2022.

Matten will play Bernadette Manuelito, a Navajo police sergeant, she works closely with Leaphorn. Sharp as a tack, efficient, hard-working, perceptive, she’s tough and nothing gets by her.

Roland, Martin and Redford, who produced two screen adaptations of Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee books, The Dark Wind and Skinwalkers, executive produce with Tina Elmo and Vince Gerardis. Vince Calandra is executive producer and showrunner. Chris Eyre, who directed Skinwalkers and was the first Native American to win a DGA Award for Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs, will direct the pilot and will also executive produce.

Matten previously was the lead of the series Tribal and worked on Frontier with Jason Momoa. She is repped by The Characters Agency, Kohner, Principal Entertainment and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson