Adam Beach is a Native-Canadian businessman, entrepreneur and actor. He is from Ashern, Manitoba, the son of Sally and Dennis Beach, and was raised on the Dog Creek First Nations Reserve, with his two brothers. A troubled childhood saw his mother killed by a drunk driver, and his alcoholic father drowned only weeks afterward. The three brothers went to live with their grandmother and then with their uncle and aunt in Winnipeg, where Adam joined drama classes and began acting in local theatre productions.
Since then he has appeared in over 60 films and television programs. His performance in the Academy Award-nominated
Clint Eastwood-directed
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) was phenomenal. He played Ira Hayes, a Pima Native-American man who was one of the six US Marines to raise the American flag on Iwo Jima and who found the resulting fame hard to handle, subsequently giving way to alcoholism. This alone would have been an emotional role for Adam to play; however, during filming, both his grandmother and best friend passed away. His role as Hayes is both realistic and heartbreaking, earning him two Best Supporting Actor Award Nominations. He stands out well above the rest of the cast.
Adam has been further nominated for three Awards for his role in
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) including a Golden Globe. He has put in terrific performances in the comedy film
Joe Dirt (2001) and the
John Woo World War II war epic
Windtalkers (2002) in which he co-starred with
Nicolas Cage.
He headlined the cast in the
Walt Disney production
Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994), featured in
John Singleton's
Four Brothers (2005) and starred with
Harrison Ford and
Daniel Craig in the science fiction-western smash hit
Cowboys & Aliens (2011). He had a starring recurring role in
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and
Big Love (2006).
In 2016, he played Christopher Weiss / Slipknot in the super-villain film
Suicide Squad (2016).
Adam hopes to be appointed leader of his Lake Manitoba First Nation.