"Why Can't We Set It Here?" - Actress Kaniehtiio Horn on the Great Stories Canada Has To Offer
Wunmi Mosaku, Anna Kendrick and Horn in Alice, Darling
The co-star of Alice, Darling and icon of Letterkenny talks about why Canada should stop playing other countries in the movies, Anna kendrick, and why she rejects the title of ‘activist’.
It’s something to consider when an actor with an extensive filmography such as Kaniehtiio Horn can somehow be the ‘underachiever’ in her family, but even the Letterkenny actress acknowledges sometimes that’s how she feels. Of course, anyone who has see Tiio’s work, in The Man in the High Castle, Possessor, and most recently Alice, Darling, would never accuse the Canadian born actor of underachieving as she has been involved in some of the most talked about films and television programs in recent years. Most family’s would be ecstatic to have a recognized talent such as Horn, but then again, most families probably also don’t have a Doctor breaking boundaries within the Mohawk community and raising six children like her sister Ojistoh. How about an associate professor at a prestigious Canadian university like her other sister Dr. Kahente Horn-Miller. Still not enough? Perhaps the first Mohawk woman to ever compete in the Olympics like other, other sister, Waneek Horn-Miller, who, naturally, was also named captain of Canada’s water-polo team just for good measure. Enough now?
“I remember asking my mom, ‘What the hell does an actor have to contribute to the movement,’” recalls Horn. That pressure stems from the original Horn power-woman, Horn’s mother, Kahn-Tineta Horn, who used her platform as a former fashion model to change the landscape around her, and help the indigenous community across Canada. Kaniehtiio is clearly proud of all the amazing women in her family, especially her mother, but she reiterates, she never felt any kind of pressure to do anything she didn’t want to pursue, and was never considered to be a rebellious youth for escaping into the world of art.
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“It wasn't necessarily a rebellion, I always wanted to do it. I just realized, at a young age, acting is something that you can get paid to do, this is a [real] job, and then I was just fixated on it.” Yet, the proverbial apple never falls from the tree. Perhaps one of the most endearing characteristics the entire Horn family possesses, is they seemingly all simply try to do what they love, and what is right. With Kaniehtiio in the public light, however, that was going to naturally come out with the platform that she has built. Kahn-Tineta took her daughters to protests, stand-ins, demonstrations and taught her girls to stand up for their heritage and for that aforementioned sense of right and wrong, and with Kaniehtiio, it often points out the hypocrisy and cultural appropriation that happens in film and television. Horn mostly shrugs off any title or label you might try and give her, but anyone who has seen her social media posts will understand. “I remember I was on ‘Canada Reads’, and they [mentioned] ‘you come from a family of activists’ and I [simply thought], I just was taught that if you see something and it's not right, you gotta say something. So if that's activism then I guess I'm an activist.”
Horn as ‘Tanis’ in Letterkenny
This has led to Horn not only being a (reluctant) face for representation and diversity, but due to her long time friendship with Canadian comedian and director Jacob Tierney, Horn is now in a position to produce shows that can continue to break new ground in terms of representation of Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit and Métis characters in media. After almost two dozens episodes as Tanis in Letterkenny, Horn became producer of the spin-off Shoresey. When asked about how to properly introduce more of this rich part of Canada’s indigenous culture, Horn simply states to keep it simple. “I think it's more about just letting it be authentic. I think if you just like sit back and like let these people just be then and it doesn't interrupt in the storyline. Just let them do their thing. We just want to exist. We’re nerds, we’re athletes, there's so many different types of us and all we want to do is exist on the big screen and in real life.”
Horn is also a steadfast and proud Canadian, and her resume certainly reflects that. While she has been a part of large Hollywood productions, a lot of her film and television work has stayed home-grown, including Alice, Darling which debuted at TIFF last September. In fact, she is so adamant about her love of authenticity, it extends to the entire true North. Horn touches on the fact that she loves that Alice, Darling is a story told about Canada, and amazingly, shot in those very same places. “We were playing Toronto, for Toronto, and basically ‘up north’ for ‘up north’. We weren't trying to pretend, which is what I really appreciate. Even in my own career’s lifetime, I've noticed when somebody from Canada writes a movie they always set it in something like Michigan.” Horn explains. Her intonation changes into slight frustration when she thinks about how many Canadian stories aren’t being told and often ‘Americanized’. “Why can't we set it here? What's wrong here? We have so many stories we have so many layers to the people here.”
Director Mary Nighy, Mosaku, Horn and Kendrick on the set of Alice, Darling.
That doesn’t mean she won’t try and have some fun with Alice, Darling co-star Anna Kendrick, who wanted to sound a little more authentically Canadian within the film. “Anna didn't have to change her accent or anything, she sounded pretty good. I was [never thinking] ‘you sound like you're from Texas.’ But there was this one time where she [asked] …Should I try to say, ‘eh’? So I had coached her how to say it, but they did not keep that take in. It was funny. I was trying not to laugh the whole time”.
Yes, Canadians can have a passive-aggressive but admittedly hilarious sense of humor (or humour as it should be spelled) but the film tackles very serious issues about domestic abuse, especially emotional manipulation, and supporting a loved-one if you recognize the signs of this happening. Much like her real life ability to recognize what is right and what is wrong, Horn’s character Tess recognized not only what Kendrick’s character Alice is going through, but what Anna herself might have needed. “It was about how I could best understand what Anna's character was going through and how I could best support that in the friendship while also supporting Anna because it's pretty intense stuff. We shared a lot of stuff because she was extremely vulnerable in her performance. It’s arguably one of her best performances I've ever seen. We shared a lot of experiences that we have had, and that set the foundation for being vulnerable.”
Whether it is on-camera or off-camera, it would appear that Horn can’t help herself in many regards. She’ll arguably continue to fight the good fight, and perhaps make even more sisterly connections… as if she did’t have enough pressure.