Reservation Dogs star Devery Jacobs is charting new ground in front of the camera — and now behind it

She's been acting for nearly 15 years, but with last year's debut of the critical hit Reservation Dogs, Devery Jacobs is breaking new ground on television as part of the FX comedy's cast. Now, she's trying to do the same behind the scenes of that show as well.

"I knew for the second season I wanted to be involved as a creative behind the camera in some capacity," says Jacobs. With that goal in mind, she put together material to make her case to write on season 2, but pleading her case for the gig turned out to not be necessary. "[Co-creator/showrunner Sterlin Harjo] actually approached me and was like, 'Did you want to be part of the writers' room this season?'" she shares.

That room turned out to be a great learning opportunity for the actor, who co-wrote episode 4 with Harjo. "[It] was also a space where I felt so comfortable to come forward with my ideas," Jacobs shares. While Jacobs has written and directed short films in the past, this was her first time in a TV show writers' room, where co-executive producer Tazbah Chavez made an effort to give all writers, no matter their level of experience, a well-rounded education.

For Jacobs, Reservation Dogs is the culmination of hard work by many Indigenous creatives. When she started actively pursuing a career as a storyteller in 2012, the roles that existed for Indigenous women were mainly Pocahontas-type roles. "I remember having to tell my agents if I'm going to ever do a sex scene, I don't want it to be in buckskin," she says. Several trailblazers, many of whom Jacobs gets to work with now, had to carve out a space in the entertainment industry and a path for stories like Reservation Dogs to exist. Now, audiences get to see all of the things the multi-hyphenate knows are cool about Indigenous people, things that are not only seen but celebrated. "It's been incredible for there to be such a great reception of our show," she says. "There's also a lot of pressure and expectations put on our show, and I think that's one of the difficult things about being one of the first."

On the show, Jacobs plays Elora, a big-sister figure to the show's central quartet — and she can relate, she says, having grown up nearly exclusively with women. (She teases that season 2 will focus more on the aunties versus season 1, which was about the uncles.) That sense of community extends to the rest of the ensemble; she recalls meeting Paulina Alexis, who plays Willie Jack, during the final stages of auditions, where Alexis shared that she wanted to become an actress after seeing Jacobs in the 2013 film Rhymes for Young Ghouls. "I was so moved by that, and the fact that we now get to work together closely and inspire young aspiring filmmakers, actors, and creatives is wild. It's an honor and responsibility that I don't carry lightly," she says.

Growing up, mainstream storytelling tells people what is cool, and those stories were about cisgender, heterosexual, white people for a long time. New generations see so many different protagonists now, including Jacobs and Alexis. "I know that it would have made me feel so much more empowered as an Indigenous kid growing up if I had a show like this," she shares.

Jacobs has found inspiration in watching storytellers refusing to back down. "From five years ago to now, being an Indigenous person existing in this industry looks radically different," Jacobs says. She's heard people like filmmaker Sydney Freeland and Harjo say they were told Native stories don't sell. "Now people in the industry are finally clueing in to the fact that we're the nation's original storytellers," Jacobs explains, "and what they thought they knew about Native people is so far from the truth. We have so much culture and beauty in our communities that we are waiting to share."

She hopes some of those stories also involve queer Indigenous characters. "I'd love to see a two-spirit protagonist in a rom-com," she cites as an example. Jacobs sees an inherent queerness in Reservation Dogs that she's noticed the LGBTQ community picking up on. "I think that's because there are many queer creatives behind the project," she says, referring to Freeland, writer Tommy Pico, costar Elva Guerra, and herself. Still, there's more to do, and Jacobs is excited to see what stories are yet to be told.

She's also excited about new opportunities coming her way because of the success of Reservation Dogs. The show has set a new bar for the young creative, which wasn't always possible for her before she landed the role. "If it doesn't rival [Reservation Dogs] in terms of creativity, team, story, or character, then I don't want to be part of it," she says of future projects. While she's excited to highlight more stories about Indigenous people, she's also curious about other genres. "I'm looking to explore outside of myself in the acting roles that I take," she explains, "Whereas when it comes to being a writer, or creating my own projects, they're definitely much more reflective of my own experience."

There's more on the way from Jacobs. The actor, who will also appear in the Marvel series Echo this year, has been producing and will star in a film she's been working on for five years that "draws more on queerness." She also has her sights on a movie she hopes will be her feature debut as a writer and director. Until then, prepare for another round of adventure with Elora, Bear, Cheese, and Willie Jack when Reservation Dogs returns for its sophomore season. "We're on the precipice of a movement of Indigenous storytelling in this medium that we haven't seen before," she says proudly.

Reservation Dogs season 2 premieres Aug. 3 on FX.

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