Forrest Goodluck in ‘The Revenant.’

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant has earned high marks — and three Golden Globe awards — for its scenic beauty and rugged brutality. A harrowing survival tale based on early 1800s frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), the film is also winning praise for its powerful performances — one of which comes from Forrest Goodluck in his first major film role. Goodluck, still in high school, plays Glass’s half-Pawnee son, Hawk. Without spoiling the film, Goodluck holds his own among his more seasoned costars Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson, and DiCaprio, in some very intense scenes shot in wintry landscapes. Get to know Goodluck and see how he handled himself in the film’s frigid, outdoor locations:



1. How old are you?

I’m 17.

2. Where are you from?

Albuquerque, New Mexico.

3. Are you applying to colleges?

Yeah. I’m looking at schools now and finishing up the college process. I’m definitely looking at Los Angeles. I’ve applied to USC, UCLA, and open to New York — places where great minds gather.

4. I’ve read you belong to several tribes. Can you describe them?

The Dine is the Navajo nation. Mandan and Hidatsa are people up in North Dakota. And the Tsimshian are in Alaska. My father comes from the Navajo people in Shiprock, New Mexico, in the Four Corners area. That is the Dine, which means “the people” in Navajo. If you ever hear the name of a native tribe it usually translates to “the people” or “human beings.” My grandmother on my mother’s side is from the Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota — which is the reservation where the Arikara are from. The Arikara, of course, are in The Revenant.

5. How did you get cast in The Revenant?

[Laughs] A lot of auditioning. It’s been a crazy experience. One minute I’m in a plane in New Mexico flying over to L.A. and Calgary [Canada] for these weeklong trips to perfect this character. They really took faith in me. I’m really glad Alejandro saw something in me.

6. How did you get into character?

I was working with an acting coach named Angela Gibbs, who has a history with Alejandro and even helped Michael Keaton in Birdman. She transformed me into an actor. I couldn’t have done that without her. She taught me to layer. Every day it would be deepening the character more and more. … We would do this thing they call projecting where I’d take a character, Leonardo DiCaprio who plays my father Hugh Glass, and I’d imagine him as my actual father. I was seeing it from all these different angles and adding it up to what you see on screen.

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From left: Goodluck, Iñárritu, and DiCaprio at the film’s Hollywood premiere Dec. 16.

7. What were your working days like with Leonardo DiCaprio?

There was a bunch of rehearsal before we even picked up the camera. He is so smart. He was never judgmental with me. People [in the film], like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, or Domhnall Gleeson, were never judgmental with me at all. They always helped me out through each scene. Of course, this is my first film, having that certain level of intimidation and seeing them as very human, normal people, helped me every day.

8. Was there a moment with DiCaprio when you two felt you’d achieved the right dynamic together as actors?

We’re both in a boat together waiting for a scene to happen. It’s downtime and we’re both waiting for the cameras to start. We get to talking and he looks at me and he pulls me close and says [paraphrasing], “Look, you don’t have to worry too much about what we’re doing because, yes, this film is going to be tough, but I’ve never done a film like this either.” What he said to me was so humbling — that we’re both, literally, in the same boat together. It was a moment where I was just like, finally [exhales], just let go. I realized it was a new experience for everybody, including the director, the cinematographer, all of the cast, all of the crew. It captured such a harsh reality and such beauty that had never been captured on film before. We were experimenting to create something great.