{"id":16105,"date":"2020-10-20T11:45:33","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T18:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/?p=16105"},"modified":"2020-10-21T12:14:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T19:14:37","slug":"alyssa-wapanatahk-tiger-lily-peter-pan-and-wendy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/alyssa-wapanatahk-tiger-lily-peter-pan-and-wendy\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcomer Alyssa Wapanat\u00e2hk To Play Tiger Lily In ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The casting of Native American princess Tiger Lily has not been without its casting controversies, such as when the very much not Native American Rooney Mara was cast as her in 2015’s Pan<\/em>. Disney, however, is taking no such liberties with the role: The Wrap<\/a> confirms newcomer Alyssa Wapanat\u00e2hk has been tapped to play the classic character in its upcoming Peter Pan & Wendy<\/em>. (The news was first reported by The Illuminerdi<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wapanat\u00e2hk, a native Canadian and member of the Cree (N\u00eahiyaw) First Nation, has been acting since she was 16 years old. Her recent work, the short film “Napes Kas\u00eakipatw\u00e2t \/ The Boy And The Braid,” which she wrote, directed and produced, was one of the first-ever recipients of the Telus Indigenous Storyteller Edition grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources say this version of Tiger Lily is being reimagined for the film. Most audiences are most familiar with the younger, animated version of Tiger Lily from Disney’s classic 1953 film, but in J.M. Barrie’s book, Tiger Lily was a bit older. Wapanat\u00e2hk, who is married and mother to a little girl, fits that bill, though we admittedly don’t yet know how the character will be reimagined. Back in January, the Disinsider<\/a> reported that the role of Tiger Lily would be much expanded from the animated version, where Tiger Lily was more of a damsel-in-distress type. The casting call description for Tiger Lily at that time described her as being “a fierce warrior and a serene and benevolent leader who protects Neverland and the lost boys and girls from the dastardly Captain Hook.” Further, she’ll speak in both English and a native tongue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To that end, the casting of Wapanat\u00e2hk tracks. The actress recently changed her name to Wapanat\u00e2hk, the Cree name she’d been given at birth, from Alook, her family name. In an Instagram post addressing the change, she stated it was part of her goal to bring back the Cree language and to speak and understand it more fluently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve changed my name… Alyssa Wapanat\u00e2hk. This has been a long term career move that I have been waiting to make for quite some time. I\u2019ve always resonated with my name \u201cWapanat\u00e2hk\u201d. This translates to \u201cfirst star in the sky\u201d or \u201cmorning star\u201d. I was given this name at birth and it feels very right to change my name to this now. I have so much love and respect for my culture and nehiyawewin, the Cree language. Nitanis (my daughter) name is in Cree as well, as it is apart of my goal in this world to bring our language back, and to learn it day by day. It\u2019s really a beautiful language and can\u2019t wait to speak and understand nehiyawewin fluently. Especially with our elders and my daughter. Understanding your language is so important. And I would highly recommend if you haven\u2019t known your language yet to learn. There are apps out there now for Cree and there are tons of people wanting to teach. It could be as simple as asking your Kokom. Ps… Alook is my family name and I will always have love and respect for this name. And it is also time for a change ? and I\u2019m loving this one. ? Aly (Pic #3)<\/a><\/p>

A post shared by Alyssa Wapanata\u0302hk<\/a> (@wapanatahk) on