Charmed Life

“I’m a storyteller,” says actor Gary Farmer. “They call it being an actor. But I take stories and make them real for people. Sometimes you get good chances and sometimes. . . .”

Farmer, a Mohawk Indian, recently got a great chance. Jonathan Wacks, producer of “Repo Man” tapped Farmer to play a lead in his new film, “Powwow Highway.”

It’s a buddy picture that throws together an explosive political activist, Buddy Red Bow (played by A Martinez) with Philbert Bono (Farmer’s character), a colossal, cuddly dreamer.

Together, they set out from their reservation in Lame Deer, Mont., and head for New Mexico in Philbert’s dilapidated “pony”--a ’64 Buick. Red Bow’s in a hurry; he’s got the money to spring his sister from jail. But Philbert’s on a spiritual quest. He follows voices, visions and signs--anything but the map.

“Philbert’s just following his nose,” Farmer explains. “He’s just doing what makes sense for him. Doesn’t that happen to people all the time? You just stumble onto things in life. And they make sense. You’ve got to follow your own instincts.”

The role was a lucky detour for Farmer, who was born on the Six Nation Confederacy in Canada and then grew up in Buffalo, N.Y. He was in Toronto, appearing in “Guys and Dolls” when he got the call from Hollywood. Farmer left the production; he traveled to Indian country in Montana to learn about Philbert’s people, the Northern Cheyenne.

“People feel that the Cheyenne community is impoverished,” Farmer says. “But I found it rich. Rich in culture, rich in tradition. There’s so much there to be shared. Good answers to questions that we ask ourselves every day. We just have to listen.”

Farmer claims to have played every Indian chief from either side of the Mississippi. Now he’s playing a Cree (the Cree Nation is based in Northern Manitoba), in the play, “Dry Lips Outta Move to Kapuskasing,” by Thompson Highway. It’s a comic look at modern-day Indian life and opens soon in Toronto.

And after that? What would be Farmer’s dream role?

“Philbert was a dream role for me. You always wonder if you’ll ever do a part straight from yourself. That’s the ultimate, when you don’t have to throw any curves on it. Philbert was one of those. He was a real gift.”