Fear the Walking Dead and Dharma & Greg actress Jenna Elfman appears in a recurring role in the most recent season of AMC's critically acclaimed series Dark Winds. Elfman portrays FBI Special Agent Sylvia Washington, who is tasked with investigating a murder on the reservation.
The series was created by Graham Roland, who is well-known for his work on several notable titles, including Prison Break, Lost, and Fringe. Dark Winds is based on the novel series by Tony Hillerman, which chronicles the stories of Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police, portrayed by Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon in the series.
Elfman and fellow TWDU actor Alex Meraz, playing Border Patrol Agent Ivan Muños, were cast in the third season of Dark Winds, which also stars Jessica Matten as newly appointed Border Patrol Agent Bernadette Manuelito. This season, three others join the cast. Bruce Greenwood(The Fall of the House of Usher, The Resident) joins as Tom Spenser, with Raoul Max Trujillo(Mayans M.C., Blue Beetle) as Budge, and Tonantzin Carmelo(La Brea, The English) as Border Patrol Agent Eleanda Garza.
The series is set in the 1970s and focuses on the Navajo Tribal Police (NTP) and their investigations. This season, the story splits into three main investigations: the NTP search for answers to the mysterious disappearance of two boys, Agent Washington arrives from Washington, DC to investigate BJ Vines' murder, and Manuelito finds herself in her own investigation as a new border patrol agent.
Below are spoilers for Dark Winds season 3, episode 6, “Abidoo’niidee (What We Had Been Told).”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, McClarnon praises Elfman's performance, stating, "She just nailed this season." Additionally, he added that Elfman is such a professional who is easy to work with and found himself mesmerized while watching her film scenes he wasn't in.
"Jenna’s just a professional, she’s such a pro and such a warm person and easy to work with. I found myself just sitting in some of these scenes and I’m just watching her and I remember, “Oh shit, I have to say my dialogue back to her,” because I’m so amazed at her work. That doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does you really have to focus and remember that you’re in the scene. I just love to watch Jenna, I’d come [to set] on scenes when I wasn’t working just to watch her, see how many different takes she would do and how many different versions. She just never made any mistakes. She’s been doing this for so long. Once in a while, you see her flub up, and it’s like, “Ah, she’s human."Zahn McClarnon
The sixth episode of season 6 featured Leaphorn in a ketamine induced dream which he faced childhood trauma, his marital issues, and brings him face to face with Agent Washington. Leaphorn found himself dancing with Washington as they "danced" around the issue at hand, Washington believes Leaphorn is responsible for the death of BJ Vines but the question remains, does she have enough evidence?
The dance sequence and the entire episode were beautifully done. Elfman, who was a professional dancer before she took up acting, led McClarnon, who explained to TV Insider that he is no dancer. Both actors expressed how much fun filming the scene was, and Elfman's red dress and hair were a homage to her grandmother, "a dancer in Vaudeville and a model in the 1930s.”
Elfman shared some fabulous behind the scenes photos of her dress and more on Instagram.
Don't miss the final episodes of Dark Winds on AMC and AMC+ Sunday nights.
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