Decades later, Dance With Wolves is still a topic of discussion for those interested in film and representation in media. Where is the cast today?
In 1990, Kevin Costner had his screen debut with the film Dance with Wolves. Taking place during the Civil War, this true story unravels the relationship between a band of Lakota Native Americans and a Union Army soldier, Lieutenant John J. Dunbar. Tired of his family, the war, and his way of life, he leaves it all behind to be with these indigenous Americans. Eventually, the new community gives the lieutenant a nickname: Dances with Wolves. The group lives happily and peacefully together until the war breaches their land.
Dances with Wolves was a huge film during its heyday in the ’90s, with critics and audiences raving about the directing, performances, score, and cinematography. With native casting and much of the dialogue in Lakota with English subtitles, it is also a film with immense cultural impact in representing the Lakota people on film, a phenomenon that indigenous Americans struggle to get to this day.
Decades later, Dance With Wolves is still a topic of discussion for those interested in film as well as representation in media. After making such a significant project, where is the cast of the film today?
7, Kevin Costner
The most famous of the cast members by far, Kevin Costner’s debut with his film led to a successful and prolific career in the entertainment industry. Quickly after the release of Dances with Wolves, he went on to lead in huge blockbuster films including The Bodyguard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Costner stayed consistent with his portfolio of movies, playing rugged and serious protagonists that are often in protector positions. Costner has been a part of 59 films.
The biggest change for the experienced actor has actually come in more recent years, bringing the old star back into the limelight with the hit series Yellowstone. The marque actor of the cast, Costner plays the patriarch of a powerful rancher family in Wyoming. The story weaves the complicated relationship between the family members as they control the largest ranch in the United States, and how this powerful farmer plays a political game with other power figures in the oil and lumber industry.
Yellowstone was an instant hit with viewers, many hopping on board to watch the show after discovering Costner would be spearheading the cast. It’s safe to say he is as relevant today as he was then.
6, Mary McDonnell
An actress who began her career in the ’80s, Mary McDonnell may not be the most recognizable name, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been a part of many great films in Hollywood. After her performance in Dances with Wolves as Costner’s love interest, McDonnell went on to be a part of a wide range of projects. From television to film, dramas to romances to thrillers, she’s done it all. Most of her biggest projects after the film included E/R, Donnie Darko, and Independence Day 2: Resurgence.
McDonnell is still acting today and has been a part of multiple high-profile film and television projects. From 2005 to 2012, she played one of the leading roles in The Closer, a series following a police detective and her high-profile homicide cases, McDowell delights as the Commander in Chief of the LAPD’s Major Crime Division. She also was a part of the hit Showtime show, Fargo alongside Martin Freeman. The anthology series was inspired by the film which follows a murder taking place in the Midwest.
5, Graham Greene
Playing Kicking Bird, Graham Greene had an irreplaceable role in Dances with Wolves that helps our protagonist make sense of the Lakota way of living. Since then, he has continued on in the film industry, making dozens of movies. Soon after the release of Dances with Wolves, he went on to star in films like Lost in the Barrens, Maverick, and Skins, all films that incorporate elements of native culture. His latest film, Antlers, was a popular horror film telling the story of a feral child growing up with a monster in his home. In it, Greene plays Warren Stokes, the sheriff of the town set out to help the young boy.
Graham Greene has also been a part of many television projects, part of the cast as well as in guest starring roles. His biggest projects include The Last of Us, in which Greene plays an unassuming man who is surviving rather gently in the apocalypse. He has also guessed stared Riverdale, and American Gods.
4, Rodney A. Grant
A Native American raised on the Omaha Reservation, Rodney A. Grant began his acting career before Dances with Wolves but took off after the film. Though none have been as popular as the 1990 film, Grants has performed in many films including Wild Wild West, Ghost of Mars, and Shouting Secrets. In the ’90s, Grant did the television show circuit, guest staring in shows like Hawkeye, Legend, and Due South.
His career took a dive in the late ’90s, when Grant moved away from his acting career, though he has taken part in the ABC miniseries Son of the Morning Star
3, Tantoo Cardinal
A Native woman from Canada, Tantoo Cardinal has been an important member of the community making strides to increase native representation on screen and stage. Starting off by founding the Saskatchewan Native Theater Company, she has made guest appearances in many TV projects including The Killing, Mohawk Girls, Outlander, and New Amsterdam. In recent years, she has been a part of many big film projects including Wendell & Wild, the Jordan Peele animated series following a black girl and the two demons she befriends, Red Snow, a Canadian war drama, and The Grizzlies.
Cardinal was the protagonist in the film Falls Around Her, tells the story of world-famous First Nations musician Mary Birchbark who returns to her reservation to rest and refresh after some hard career blows. The story explores how the musician’s fame introduces her ability to connect back with her roots, exploring much of Anishinaabe culture in the process. Her next upcoming film is based on the children’s book Wildwood, exploring the folk tales and fantasies of two seventh graders who are drawn into a hidden magical forest. She is set to narrate the film.
2, Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Born in 1936 in Lake Traverse Indian Reservation of South Dakota, Floyd Red Crow Westerman had a relatively quite career after starring in Dances with Wolves. A jack of all trades, Westerman started in the army and later built up his reputation as a folk and country singer and musician before joining the film project. His music often critiqued the impact of white European people on indigenous people or explored topics of harmony between man and wildlife. He even toured with Sting in the ’90s to raise funds for the Amazon Rainforest and its inhabitants.
He stared in multiple films after, including The Doors in 1991, an American biographical film that explores the hit band The Doors, as well as Hidalgo, the 2004 film based on the American legend of Frank Hopkins and his experience in 1981 racing horses in Arabia
Westerman died in 2007 in Los Angeles after fighting a battle with Leukemia for many years. While he was well known by Canadian audiences, especially for his indigenous advocacy, he remained relatively unknown to wider audiences. Regardless, his political work with music and art made a lasting impact on society, always using his platform to fight against war and oppression,
1, Robert Pastorelli
Robert Pastorelli was an American actor whose career really took off in the ’80s and ’90s. Starting his career in theater, he first came into the limelight for his work on the film Beverly Hills Cops 2 in 1987. After the wide critical success of Dances with Wolves, he continued on to be a part of many film and television projects. He played a role in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Eraser, and Be Cool, an American crime-comedy about the mobster Chili Palmer and his work in the music industry.
The majority of Pastorelli’s work was in television, where he was cast and guest-starred in dozens of projects. In the ’90s he was a part of projects including Harmful Intent, Batman: The Animated Series, Double Rush, and Modern Vampires. His final project in 2003 was Hack, an American crime drama centered around a Philadelphia police officer turned taxi driver who loses his job after being accused of corruption.
Pastorielli died in 2004 from an overdose, days after policemen warned him they were going to arrest him for his involvement with the events on March 15, 1999, when Pastorelli’s 25-year-old girlfriend was found dead due to a gunshot to the head. In court, Pastorelli claimed the two got into an argument when the woman pulled out a gun and shot herself. Officials are still unsure if the death was actually a suicide or murder. Before his death, police found evidence that the woman’s death was, in fact, a homicide.