Sask. Indigenous content creator makes major TV debut

A Saskatchewan TikTokcreator known for his "Indigenously Indigenous" comedy skits has made the jump to TV with a role on the series The Curse.

Brett Mooswa is from Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, about 300 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. He said hestarted creating content on TikTokduring the pandemic to bring laughter to others and thateventually brought him to the attention of Nathan Fielder, the director and a lead actor on The Curse.

He said a representative from the production team reached out to himto read for a part.

Bythe end of the process, Mooswafound himself in a "pinch-me" moment on set next to Emma Stone, who has starred infilms including The Amazing Spider-Man, Zombieland and La La Land, for which she won the Oscar for best actress in 2017.

"My first time ever acting and I'm standing across from Academy Award-winning actress Emma Stone," he said. "Every time I would try to say my lines, my head would go blank."

WATCH | Brett Mooswa talks about making his majordebut on TV:

TikTok content creator from Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation makes major debut on TV

9 months ago

Duration 4:41

Brett Mooswa has been a big hit on TikTok for his "Indigenously Indigenous" content but he never could have imagined his first acting gig would be sharing the screen with Oscar-winner Emma Stone.

Mooswa said he got the opportunity to be on the show from creating his social media content and "just being who I am," and that carried through into his TV role.

After he auditioned for the part he was originally supposed to play, the director and production team decided to develop a new character, he said.

"What they wanted was essentially everything that I already did," he said.

'My own kind of style'

Mooswa said that when he first started making TikTok videos, he was hesitant because he didn't know if people would follow him.

"I started posting my own videos, my own kind of style and everything, and using my voice a lot," he said."There was an Indigenous community there that was very supportive of what I was doing. Then it just took off like fire."

When it came time to be on the TV set, he said everyone there was supportiveand they made it a really great experience.

"This is something that I definitely want to continue doing," he said.

Mooswa said he wants to be a positive role model for Indigenous youth, to show them you can be your authentic self.

"Opportunity comes just from being yourself, andjust from putting yourself out there."