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Chaske Spencer
Chaske Spencer with Lets Move (cropped).JPG
Spencer in 2011
Born (1975-03-09) March 9, 1975 (age 49)
Occupation Actor
Years active 2002–present

Chaske Spencer is an American actor. He gained prominence through his role as Sam Uley in the Twilight films (2009–2012). For his performance in the BBC and Amazon Prime series The English (2022), he was nominated for a British Academy Television Award.

Spencer's films include Shouting Secrets (2011), Winter in the Blood (2013), Desert Cathedral (2014), Woman Walks Ahead (2017), and Wild Indian (2021). He had recurring roles in the Cinemax series Banshee (2014–2016), the Amazon Prime series Sneaky Pete (2017–2018), and the NBC crime drama Blindspot (2019–2020).

Early life and education

Spencer was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and grew up in Montana, as well as Kooskia, Lapwai, and Lewiston, Idaho. He has two younger sisters. His heritage includes Lakota, Nez Perce, Cherokee, Muscogee, French, and Dutch. He is Lakota Sioux, enrolled with the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Montana through his mother.

Spencer graduated from Clearwater Valley High School in 1994, where he went by the name James Spencer. As a young teen, he started acting in productions at the Lewiston Civic Theater. Spencer attended college at Lewis–Clark State College for a year, and considered a career in photography. He eventually dropped out of Lewis–Clark State College to pursue his acting career.

Career

Spencer did odd jobs while taking acting lessons from coaches David Gideon and Ed Kovens. In 2002, he made his feature film debut as a young version of Eric Schweig's lead character in Skins. This was followed by further film roles in Dreamkeeper and Into the West.

In 2009, Spencer played werewolf Sam Uley in the Twilight sequel New Moon, based on Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name. He reprised his role in Eclipse, Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Spencer won two Best Actor accolades at the American Indian Film Festival for his performances in the 2011 film Shouting Secrets and the 2013 film Winter in the Blood. He also had a role in the 2014 film Desert Cathedral.

After playing Deputy Billy Raven in the 2014 spinoff web series Banshees Origins, Spencer reprised his role in the third season of the main Cinemax series Banshee the following year. In 2017, Spencer starred in the film Woman Walks Ahead, appeared in the film Walking Out, and had a recurring role as Chayton Dockery in the Amazon Prime series Sneaky Pete. He went on to have another recurring role as Dominic Masters in the fourth and fifth seasons of the NBC crime drama Blindspot.

Spencer starred in the 2021 thriller film Wild Indian, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. The following year, he starred opposite Emily Blunt in the Western miniseries The English, produced for Amazon Prime Video and BBC One. For his performance, Spencer was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor.

Personal life

..... He nearly gave up on acting before his agent called him to audition for New Moon, the sequel to Twilight.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Skins Teen Rudy
2003 Dreamkeeper Eagle Boy
2009 The Twilight Saga: New Moon Sam Uley
2010 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
2011 Shouting Secrets Wesley
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Sam Uley
2012 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
2013 Winter in the Blood Virgil First Raise
2014 The Hero Pose Joe Short film
Desert Cathedral Duran Palouse
The Jingle Dress John Red Elk
2015 Addiction: A 60's Love Story Rick Barone
2017 Woman Walks Ahead Chaska
2021 Wild Indian Teddo
TBA Indian Summer Wez McKendrick
TBA Wind River: The Next Chapter Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Into the West Voices That Carry Episodes: "Ghost Dance"
Miniseries
2012 The Frontier Eli Television film
2014 Banshee Origins Deputy Billy Raven Web miniseries
2015–2016 Banshee Recurring (season 3), guest (season 4)
2017 Longmire Mr. Dawson Episode: “No Greater Character Endorsement”
2017–2018 Sneaky Pete Chayton Dockery 8 episodes
2019–2020 Blindspot Dominic Masters 9 episodes
2019 The Society Mr. Pfeiffer Episode: "What Happened"
Jessica Jones Jace Montero 2 episodes
2022 The English Sgt. Eli Whipp/Wounded Wolf 6 episodes
2024 Echo Henry "Black Crow" Lopez 5 episodes

Video games

  • Red Dead Revolver (2004), Various

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2011 American Indian Film Festival Best Actor Shouting Secrets Won
2013 Winter in the Blood Won
2014 SOFIE Awards Best Actor in a Short Film Hero Pose Won
2015 New York VisionFest Desert Cathedral Breakthrough Performance Award Won
2022 Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Male Wild Indian Nominated
2023 Royal Television Society Programme Awards Actor – Male The English Nominated
British Academy Television Awards Best Actor Nominated

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Chaske Spencer para niños Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Chaske Spencer para niños

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