Jana Schmieding is a Native American (

Cheyenne River The Cheyenne River ( lkt, Wakpá Wašté; "Good River"), also written ''Chyone'', referring to the Cheyenne people who once lived there, is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 2 ...

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: *Lakota, Iowa *Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County *Lakota ...

) comedian, actor,

podcaster A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. ...

, and writer. She is best known for her roles hosting the podcast ''Woman of Size'', and as a writer and actor on the sitcom ''

Rutherford Falls ''Rutherford Falls'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on the streaming service Peacock on April 22, 2021. It was created by Ed Helms, Michael Schur, and Sierra Teller Ornelas. In July 2021, the series was renewed for a secon ...

'', and an actor on ''

Reservation Dogs ''Reservation Dogs'' is an Indigenous American teen comedy drama television series created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi for FX Productions. It is the first series to feature all Indigenous writers and directors, along with an almost ent ...

''.

Early life and education

Schmieding is a

woman who grew up in

Canby, Oregon Canby is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 15,829 at the 2010 census. It is along Oregon Route 99E, northeast of Barlow. History Canby is named for Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, a Civil War general who was lat ...

, where she says she was raised "pretty traditionally in the Lakota ways." She studied theater at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Career

Post-college

After college, Schmieding moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to pursue her acting dreams. To earn a living, she spent ten years teaching middle and high school, while performing improv in the evenings with

Magnet Theater The Magnet Theater is an improvisational comedy theatre and improv school in New York City. The Magnet Theater was founded in March 2005 by Armando Diaz, Ed Herbstman and Shannon Manning. Diaz, Manning and Herbstman were friends from Chicago, w ...

. In 2016, Schmieding moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where she worked at an education-related nonprofit and shifted gears from acting to writing. Between 2017 and 2019, Schmieding hosted "Woman of Size," a podcast in which she and guests discussed experiences of discrimination related to body size.

''Rutherford Falls''

After three years of working on her writing, Schmieding was hired as one of 12 writers on ''Rutherford Falls'', a

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

original

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

. The show focuses on relationships between characters in a Northeastern town and the

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

it borders. She was hired by the show's co-creator,

Sierra Teller Ornelas Sierra Nizhoni Teller Ornelas (born 1981) (Navajo) is an American showrunner, screenwriter, filmmaker and weaver from Tucson, Arizona. She is one of three co-creators of the scripted NBC (Peacock) comedy series ''Rutherford Falls'', alongside Ed ...

(

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

), who had previously been a guest on Schmieding's podcast. On August 10, 2020, it was announced that Schmeiding would co-star in the show opposite

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom ''The Offic ...

in addition to serving as a writer. She has praised the show for featuring a modern Native woman rather than those confined to the Old West. ''Rutherford Falls'' launched with its entire first season available on demand on April 22, 2021. Early reviews praised Schmieding's performance on screen. Writing for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'', Saloni Gajjar called Schmieding a "breakout performer," saying that "comedy vet dHelms...meets his match in co-star and relative newcomer Schmieding, who balances his rigor with a down-to-earth and equally captivating performance." Jen Chaney of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' also named Schmieding the show's "breakout star," calling her "a natural." In July 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, with Schmieding continuing as both a writer and co-star. The season premiered on June 16, 2022.

Other work

Schmieding appears as Bev, the clinic receptionist and one of the "aunties", in the series ''

''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmieding, Jana Native American actresses Native American screenwriters Cheyenne River Sioux people American women comedians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Oregon alumni American television actresses American television writers American women television writers Native American women writers 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American comedians American podcasters American women podcasters Actresses from Oregon Screenwriters from Oregon Comedians from Oregon