Kiowa Gordon
Gordon at a The Twilight Saga: New Moon promotional appearance in Houston, Texas on November 10, 2009
Born
Kiowa Joseph Gordon

Berlin, Germany
Occupation(s)Actor, vocalist
Years active2009–present
Children1

Kiowa Joseph Gordon is a Native American actor of Hualapai heritage. He is best known for his role as shapeshifter Embry Call in The Twilight Saga, as well as Junior in the TV series The Red Road.

Early life

Gordon was born in Berlin, Germany, where his father, Thomas Gordon, was working.[1][2] He is the seventh of eight children (Mac, Sean, Aaron, Josh, Cheyenne, Sariah, Lakota). His mother, Camille Nighthorse Gordon, is also an actress.[3] Gordon is of European and Hualapai heritage, and is a citizen of the Hualapai Tribe of Northern Arizona.[4][5]

His family moved back to the U.S. when he was two years old, and he grew up in Arizona, where he attended Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek, Arizona.[3] He attended the LDS church for a while in the same ward as Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.[6]

Kiowa used to be a member of a progressive metal band called Touché, leaving it to focus on acting.[citation needed]

Career

In 2009, Gordon played shapeshifter Embry Call in New Moon, based on Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name. He has said that he was approached one day at church by Stephenie Meyer as she thought he would be perfect for the wolf pack.[citation needed] He then attended an open casting where he landed the role of Jacob Black's best friend. Gordon replaced Krys Hyatt (who played Embry in Twilight) in New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.[citation needed]

Gordon was set to play Brad in the proposed American film Into The Darkness, but the film never came to fruition. He portrayed Jake Kingston in the 2014 thriller Wind Walkers, which tells a Native American urban legend.[7] Gordon starred in An Act of War, released on Netflix in 2015. The film was directed by Ryan M. Kennedy and produced by Atit Shah.[citation needed]

In 2021, it was announced that Gordon would star as Jim Chee in Dark Winds, a psychological thriller television series on AMC. It premiered on 12 June 2022 and was renewed for a second season.[8]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2009 The Twilight Saga: New Moon Embry Call
2010 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Embry Call
2011 Into the Darkness Brad
Murder for Dummys Andrew
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Embry Call
2012 The Lesser Blessed Johnny Beck
The Projectionist Private LockLear
2014 The Red Road Junior Van Der Veen Main cast
2017 Painted Woman Chato
2018 Through Black Spruce Jesse
2019 Roswell, New Mexico Flint Manes TV series; Recurring role
2019 Blood Quantum Lysol
2019 Castle in the Ground Stevie
2020 The Liberator Corporal Kanuna TV miniseries
2022-Present Dark Winds Jim Chee TV series; Main role
2022 Quantum Cowboys Frank Feature Film; Lead
TBA Rez Ball

TBA

In production[9]

References

  1. ^ Schmidt, Rob (December 2, 2009). "Our dinner with Kiowa Gordon". Newspaper Rock. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "A Wolfpack Member makes an appearance in Salt Lake City". ABC4.com. July 23, 2010. Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Titla, Mary Kim (July 4, 2009). "An interview with Kiowa Gordon". Indian Country Today. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  4. ^ Suetopka Thayer, Rosanda (July 13, 2010). "77th Annual Hopi festival highlights July 4th weekend". The Observer. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  5. ^ Carroll, Larry (September 3, 2009). "'New Moon' Actor Kiowa Gordon Reveals How to Tell the Wolves Apart". MTV News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  6. ^ Vice, Jeff (November 20, 2009). "Mormons run with shapeshifters in 'New Moon'". MormonTimes.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  7. ^ Wind Walkers
  8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 9, 2021). "AMC Orders 'Dark Winds' Series From Graham Roland, George R.R. Martin & Robert Redford Based On Tony Hillerman Books; Zahn McClarnon & Kiowa Gordon Star". Deadline. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  9. ^ Grobar, Matt (April 17, 2023). "Rez Ball': Netflix Sets Jessica Matten, Julia Jones, Amber Midthunder, Kiowa Gordon & More For Sydney Freeland's Native American Basketball Underdog Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 18, 2023.

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