Content warning for discussions of suicide.
With backing from executive producer Lebron James, the new Netflix movie Rez Ball is creating some major buzz. Not because it’s some pro-athlete-studded film à la 2022’s Hustle with Adam Sandler or the 2021 Space Jam remake, starring the king of the court himself. Quite the contrary — the highly anticipated film features many young Native American talents who are making their silver screen debut.
The movie tells the story of an underdog Navajo high school basketball team reeling in the aftermath of losing their star player to suicide. It reflects real life on Indian reservations across America, where tribal communities face higher suicide rates than any other demographic group as well as disproportionate poverty and addiction rates, marked health disparities, greater violence levels, and lower life expectancies.
For Canada-based Indigenous actress Jessica Matten, who is of Red River Metis, Cree, Chinese, and European descent, the topic hits close to home. She has spent more than 20 years working with Native youth — who are particularly at risk — to prevent suicide and address mental health issues, which often stem from intergenerational trauma due to the oppressive assimilation policies that came with colonialism.
“A lot of people ask why these things happen,” Matten tells Teen Vogue. “It’s the result of being in an isolated community without access to necessary resources like clean water, where you’re fighting for your land and your rights. It’s all connected.”
Mirroring that work, in Rez Ball, Matten plays coach Heather Hobbs, who is determined to help the boys find hope and strength through sport during that difficult time. In the film, trauma is balanced with joy, thanks to director Sydney Freeland (Navajo), who also directed Echo and co-wrote this script with Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee). Together, they injected the film with authentic moments that are beautifully brought to life by a mostly Indigenous cast.
Below, Matten talks to Teen Vogue about what drives her work with Native youth, how she prepared for her Rez Ball role, and what she hopes audiences take away from the film, which premiered in select theaters on September 20 and is streaming on Netflix on September 27. Warning: Minor spoilers ahead.
Editor’s note: Indian reservations are known as reserves in Canada, which is reflected in this conversation.
Jessica Matten: Long before my acting days, I’ve been working for more than 20 years trying to get at the root causes of why our Native communities are in such dire need of help and have such a longstanding history of suicide among our youth. I’ve worked on many isolated reserves across Canada, with women’s shelters, and with Native inner-city programs, where we’re tackling suicide issues all the time — and I mean with kids as young as 11 years old. So when I got this script it was a no-brainer, because it resonates so deeply with what I’ve been doing in these communities my entire life. I felt confident I could bring something to this film beyond just reciting lines, because my heart and soul go into this type of work.
JM: It’s pretty fascinating playing Heather Hobbs in Rez Ball because I am Heather Hobbs in real life with the work I do with young Indigenous men. [laugh] Just last week, I was on the Blackfoot Siksika First Nation Reserve, where I run a film academy. That acts as a resource and an outlet for them to work through their mental health struggles and serves as a prevention tool for suicide and addiction issues. In the film, Heather isn’t just their coach; she really is the only person in these boys’ lives who’s helping them with their mental health struggles living on the reserve and being born into families dealing with intergenerational trauma.
There are so many factors that shape a person, and we’re all a product of our environment. Unfortunately, the environment on a lot of our beautiful reserves is often one of broken families, broken culture, and broken language due to [Indian] boarding schools. To put it in perspective, the last boarding school in Canada only shut down in 1996, so we are very much still a part of the healing that needs to happen.
I believe our generation is really the first to be able to take a step aside, break free, and look at how we need to heal ourselves from an outside perspective. For Heather as a character, being able to get out of her reserve and go to the WNBA gave her a new perspective.
But then the other side of it, she feels like such a failure when one of her students [dies by] suicide. I deal with this all the time on the reserves; I lost a student to suicide last summer. You can’t help but feel like you let someone down, but it also ignites this fire within you to do better, to fight, to go the distance, to succeed. So you can see the parallels between my real life and the character I play in Rez Ball.
JM: The day we shot the scene where Heather tells the team that one of their players [has died by] suicide was a very heavy day for everyone. The sad thing is that being Indigenous means we usually have one degree of separation from someone who has [died by] suicide, so a lot of people in the room were triggered. We actually paused and went through our traditional ceremonial practices [of smudging] right in the middle of filming. It’s important for us as Indigenous people when we’re bringing up a trauma that’s so close to home to take a moment to honor our ancestors and process what we’re going through in a healthy way.
There were also these hilarious moments that lightened the mood. For instance, we were filming this serious scene in a school bus and all of a sudden someone rips this giant fart. Ernie [Tsosie III] and I had to pause because we were trying not to burst out laughing. So we went again and someone farted again, then mayhem just broke out. Finally I was like, “Clench your butt cheeks and make it a silent one at the very least.” So it was really a joy to film this, and it restored my faith in the kindness of community.
JM: I really know no different. When I was a kid, my mom had a Native fashion school for women coming off the reserve or coming out of domestic violence situations. It was a place of healing that provided a sense of community. As a child and teenager, I would create these dollar-store vision boards with the daughters — long before I knew what a vision board was. From there, I hosted workshops for inner-city youth in Vancouver. That evolved into having my own fashion and film programs on East Hastings, which is Canada’s Skid Row equivalent. In my 20s, I created an organization with my mom where we traveled to isolated Native reserves across Canada.
The film and fashion programs I still run to this day are designed to give people a sense of purpose to wake up in the morning and to shine a glimmer of hope in a place where it can seem like there’s no hope at all. I have pretty big goals to uplift as many communities as possible. I know I can’t save everyone, but I’m hoping that Rez Ball sheds light on how intensely our Indigenous youth are impacted and that it can be part of our collective healing journey as Indigenous people.
JM: Look, I lived in 26 homes by the age of 21. I am very much the product of a Native woman trying to find her way. As a kid, you get like second-degree burn of whatever your parents are struggling to overcome in life. I was a very angry kid who was put in a lot of intense circumstances growing up, and my outlet was always sports. Basketball was a wonderful outlet for my mental health but also a physical place of safety for me. I believe basketball brings our communities together not just by creating a sense of belonging but by creating a safe haven for a lot of these players who might not have a safe haven to go home to.
My brother was a rez ball coach for a long time, so when I was auditioning and preparing for this role, he gave me a lot of insight. For instance, he always made sure to get long-sleeve jerseys for his players because a lot of boys had bruises on their arms that they were embarrassed about. Many of them didn’t have socks, so he would order them socks. He helped build their self-confidence so they collectively knew they had a safe haven on the court. I learned a lot from my brother about how rez ball can save a life in the process of working on Heather Hobbs.
JM: I hope they take away that mental health issues are a global topic of concern. I really hope that Rez Ball reminds Native and non-Native people alike that you’re not alone in the world and that these issues impact every human being.
And just to lighten the mood, I will say it was such a blessing to see these young cast members so excited to come to set. These young men are going through a lot in their own communities, and for most of them, this was their first role. Seeing how working on a project like this really uplifted their spirits reinforced my direction in life. I’m so excited to see where their careers go — this is just the beginning for them.
Rez Ball is streaming on Netflix on September 27.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, you can speak with a trained listener by texting 988, the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or calling +1 (800) 273-TALK (8255).
