Emmys ‘red’ carpet statement: Why young star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai wore red face paint on TV’s biggest night

Canadian actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai is using his voice — and face — to remind the public there’s just as much injustice off-screen as there is on it.

The First Nations star of the comedy-drama series Reservation Dogs rocked up to the 76th Emmys in Los Angeles with a red handprint painted across his face.

But the eye-catching look was much more than a fashion statement.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the award ceremony, the Oji-Cree actor — whose real name is D’Pharaoh Miskwaatez McKay Woon-A-Tai — explained his motivation for the emblazonment.

“This is a red palm print representing the missing and murdered Indigenous women to spirit,” he said.

“We just find that there’s a very big epidemic in the United States and Canada where our sisters, our relatives, our two spirited relatives are going missing at an alarming rate... and people are doing nothing about it.”

In 2023, Statistics Canada reported the rate of homicide within the country’s First Nations peoples as being six times higher than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

It is believed 81 per cent of Indigenous deaths in those regions come at the hands of somebody close to them.

The 22-year-old Emmy nominee suggested the handprint was symbolic of “shutting a woman up”, while the red colour represented “violence and blood”.

Playing one of four core Indigenous characters in Reservation Dogs, the young cast member expressed his pride in being nominated for the Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series award.

And the first Indigenous actor to ever be recognised in the ceremony’s leading actor comedy.

“I’m very honoured, especially the fact that I’m one of the very few or only ones out of my cast to be nominated,” he told reporters.

“We shot this for three years, and I put my heart and soul into it, so I’m happy people are realising it.”

The series was co-created by New Zealand director Taika Waiti whose father was a Māori artist.

With a history of producing Indigenous stories, including 2010’s Boy and 2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, the Kiwi storyteller believes there should be more diversity on screen.

“There needs to be more inclusion, more representation and just more effort in allowing Native people to tell their stories,” he told Chronicle in 2023.

“I just think Hollywood is still too scared to really embrace Native storytelling. They’re weak and they’re cowards!”