A scene from The Homesman.

Actor-director Tommy Lee Jones said his new film doesn't portray Native Americans in a stereotypical fashion.

A scene in The Homesman features a confrontation between a group of Pawnee riders and non-Indian settlers in Nebraska. A horse is stolen but Jones said the film remains true to life.

“I am not ashamed of the fact that they are considered by our characters to be potentially homicidal,'" Jones said during the Cannes Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter. We are not bending the truth at all or stereotyping anybody. That’s the last thing we wanted to do.”

Get the Story:
Cannes: Tommy Lee Jones Defends Portraying Native Americans as Bad Guys in 'The Homesman' (The Hollywood Reporter 5/20)
Tommy Lee Jones on The Homesman: 'It's a consideration of American imperialism' (The Guardian 5/20)