Devery Jacobs is changing the game — and prying the door open for others in the process

Here & Queer is an interview series hosted by Peter Knegt that celebrates and amplifies the work of LGBTQ artists through unfiltered conversations.

Devery Jacobs knows that the extraordinary moment she's having in her career right now is so much bigger than her — it's also about everyone that might be able to follow in her mighty footsteps. 

"With the success that I've been able to have in my career, fortunately, I feel like I'm prying open the door even more and trying to get as many people through the door as I possibly can," she says. "Because even now, being in these spaces where there's some of Hollywood's most elite, it still feels really isolating. A lot of the time, I'm the only queer person or queer person of colour, and especially the only Native person."

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Jacobs to talk about how she's navigating these spaces — and all of the incredible projects that helped bring her to them, not to mention the ones to come — in the latest episode of Here & Queer, which you can watch in its entirety below:

It's undeniable that the project most directly responsible for putting Jacobs in the same rooms as "Hollywood's most elite" is the F/X series Reservation Dogs. (See the 2022 Spirit Awards where she shared the best ensemble cast prize with her Dogs co-stars, or this past June's Hollywood Reporter Actress Roundtable, an experience Jacobs discusses in this episode of Here & Queer.) And that beloved, groundbreaking show — which Jacobs not only starred in but wrote and directed episodes of — is coming to an end this year. Its final season premieres on August 2nd, something that Jacobs is obviously meeting with strong emotions. 

"It's so bittersweet," she says. "Every once in a while I'll break down in total emo tears over it. But it's because we love the project and we love the story. And we've been able to reach new heights together in telling the story of these four kids from Oklahoma."

Jacobs says she's incredibly proud of what the show accomplished in its three seasons, and feels that they were able "to go out with guns blazing."

"So many times you'll see shows where it's on its 11th season and you're like, 'Ok, you're really spreading the plot thin here.' There isn't any semblance of what the initial seasons look like. But I feel like with Reservation Dogs, we were able to leave it as strong, if not stronger, than where we started out."

Reservation Dogs isn't the only way you can see Jacobs' work onscreen this summer. She's also starring in a film she co-wrote, This Place, which is currently in theatres and available to rent or buy at home on demand on August 15th. 

"It was the first time writing a feature and first time collaborating with anybody else," Jacobs says of the film. "It was pre-Reservation Dogs and we filmed it with a Talent to Watch grant, which is micro-budget."

Directed by V.T. Nayani, This Place stars Jacobs (who co-wrote the film with Nayani and Golshan Abdmoulaie) and Priya Guns as Kawenniióhstha and Malai, two women who find each other — and begin to fall in love — at a Toronto laundromat.

"The film just has so much heart for all of us," Jacobs says. "It touches on each of our communities. I also, as a writer, had infused my queerness into the story. It was originally with the characters that they were supposed to be friends, and it just wasn't reading true when we were writing it. Then when I was coming out in my real life and figuring out who the characters were, it was so clearly a love story."

Jacobs says that This Place is part of an effort to create opportunities for the communities the film represents. 

"It's getting people experiences, taking chances on folks who haven't necessarily had the longest resumé and the most connections in the industry," she says. "I find that by taking a shot on people from these communities who are incredibly passionate and talented, oftentimes it pays off tenfold and ends up forming careers."

"So many people who worked on This Place, it was their first time either working on a film set or in that position they did. And now people are off and working on television shows and in the work. So it's a lot of work, but it's exciting and it's necessary. It needs to happen to be truly inclusive in this industry."

This interview was conducted and shot on July 6, 2023, before the SAG-AFTRA strike began.