Tatanka Wanbli Sapa Xila Sabe Means (born February 19, 1985) is an American actor and comedian, of Oglala Lakota, Omaha, Yankton Dakota, and Diné descent.
Means' first screen role was in 2004 playing lead stunt double in the film Black Cloud,[2] which was shot in the same gym where he had previously trained as a boxer.
"[5] In Tiger Eyes (2012), based on the novel by Judy Blume, he played Wolf Ortiz,[2] a Native American boy who shows the main character his ancestral lands and introduces her to his culture.
One described him as "quietly affecting";[7] another said that he "could have come off as a holy-native cliche, but instead seems entirely real";[8] and another wrote that he was "superbly cast ... [with] a voice that can quickly disarm and charm a newcomer ... it's clear that we're seeing something almost never seen in a contemporary feature film, which is an utterly authentic representation of a New Mexican."
[15][16] Means has also appeared in The Burrowers (2008) as 'Tall Ute',[2] Sedona (2011) as Chuck,[17] The Host (2013), Banshee (2014) as 'Hoyt Rivers',[18] A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014),[18] The Night Shift (2014-2015),[18] Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015),[18] and Graves (2016).
[18] Also in 2019, he was cast in a film version of Alex Kershaw's book The Liberator as Private Thomas Otaktay, a Lakota soldier fighting with the 157th Field Artillery Regiment during World War II.
[18] Means takes pride in portraying Native men as modern, complex people rather than the racist or stereotypical characters sometimes found in Hollywood films.