OFF-CENTERPIECE : MOVIES : To Russell Means, Activism Is No Act

Indian activist Russell Means has successfully created his own dramatic, larger-than-life character--one that at least temporarily had to be suppressed for him to star in Michael Mann’s upcoming movie “The Last of the Mohicans.”

As a leader of the American Indian Movement, Means, an Oglala Lakota, has both led armed insurrection against the United States and run for President. At the 1973 takeover of Wounded Knee, the former accountant donned war paint, used live ammo and issued pronouncements like: “We’ve got the whole Wounded Knee valley and we definitely are going to hold it until death do us part.”

But Means is also a non-professional actor, and when he’s cast in a drama of someone else’s design, things change. “He thought he could do it right off the bat just by being himself,” says casting director Bonnie Timmerman. “He would protest ‘I wouldn’t say this’ and ‘I wouldn’t say that’ and I told him you’ve shown you can speak from the heart but it’s different when you’re speaking from a script.”

Means admits screen work required some adjustment. But he says of his casting in the role of Chingachgook, “I’m certain they appreciated my notoriety.”

Mann, Timmerman and a variety of coaches worked with Means to channel his passionate, opinionated nature into the film’s highly structured requirements. Months of training drilled the skilled extemporaneous speaker in taking direction and the mechanics of making the same speech over and over again. “What the audience has to feel is absolutely programmed,” says writer-director Mann, who expects no one--including Means--to deviate from his vision.

Though he got with the program on-camera, off the set Means found many opportunities to ply his trademark advocacy. “As soon as we said ‘cut’ he was an activist again,” says one assistant director. “On the way to the trailer he was an activist, on the way home he was an activist.”

Means confirms that he was troubled by “institutionalized racism” on the set and that he has even documented “the incidents that I ran into”: being called “Chief” or “Redskin,” being accused of doing a rain dance when the weather turned bad and having his traditional Indian choker referred to as a “dog collar.”

A more positive--and familiar--role for him was taking up the cause of the film’s Indian character actors. Means made the crew distinguish between those playing French-allied and English-allied Indians when summoning extras to the set. “Just calling ‘Indians,’ ” producer Hunt Lowry recalls being chided, “was like saying ‘Hey, all you white people get over there.’ ”

Means also carried a placard and supported 175 Indian extras in their strike to demand better pay and facilities--necessitating a change in the shooting schedule. He served as a liaison for the extras in their talk with producers, with whom they in fact negotiated a pay raise and improved conditions at their lodgings, dubbed “Camp Mohican.” The strikers ended up with a better deal than the non-Indian extras “who didn’t stand up for themselves,” Means proudly points out.

Means says that Hollywood is as bad as the United States government but calls “Last of the Mohicans” proof that at least the film industry is improving. He is, ironically, eager to put production controversy behind him to support the film. “The success of this movie is more important than what I have to say and my petty grievances. And I do consider them petty.”

He commends the Mann script for reforming the screen image of Indians. “A bad Indian has character development and a reason to be bad, he’s not just storming the fort. My God, they’re treating us like humans,” he says about his role. By contrast, he calls “Dances with Wolves” “Lawrence of the Plains” and says it is “the most insidiously racist movie produced in Hollywood since John Wayne.” Means says he enjoyed professional acting and is currently considering four roles, including non-Indian parts.

People connected with the production credit Means with putting in a good performance. “It helped for him that he was strong, that he was a warrior chief,” observes casting director Timmerman.

“He was a major-league pain in the ass,” says an assistant director. “But Russell was the person to cast for the part. He is the last of the Mohicans.”

Means prefers to be known, more accurately, for his firsts: “the first Indian to run for President and the first to be cast in a human role,” he says.