OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Wes Studi has played a cop in the crime thriller "Heat," a superhero trainer in the comedy "Mystery Men" and as the patriarch of an alien tribe, the Na'vi, in the sci-fi epic "Avatar."

Still, the Cherokee actor is best known for his work in Westerns, including the title role in "Geronimo: An American Legend," as a tough Pawnee warrior in "Dances With Wolves" and, more recently, as a dying Cheyenne chief in "Hostiles."

"You take a film like 'Avatar,' which is set off into the future, that's essentially a Western, in terms of the way it's built, the way it's told and the sub...