MTPR: Native actors reflect on roles in 'Winter in the Blood'

The new film "Winter in the Blood", based on the late Montana author James Welch's novel, had its Montana premiere over the weekend in Missoula.

The film and novel tell the story of a young Native American man coming to terms with a painful past, and with his life growing up on a northern Montana reservation.

The cast features several Native American actors, including Chaske Spencer who plays the lead character, Virgil First Raise - and Michael Spears, who plays the character Raymond Long Knife. Spencer grew up on Montana's Fort Peck reservation, and Spears grew up on a reservation in South Dakota. The cast also includes actress Dana Wheeler-Nicholson who plays the waitress Malvina in the film, and who in real life is married to the film's co-director Alex Smith.