Amber Midthunder Talks Dual Film Releases: ‘Opus’ and ‘Novocaine’

After several years of hearing that they should work together but never actually connecting, Amber Midthunder and Jack Quaid are no longer ships passing in the night: they’re costars in this weekend’s big box action movie “Novocaine.”

“You work on something for so long and it feels almost private to you,” says Midthunder the day after the film’s L.A. premiere. It was the first time that the 27-year-old actress had watched the movie with a crowd, which included her castmates as well as friends and family.

“This is such a fun movie to see with other people,” she says of the comedic action film, which has also been described as over-the-top gory. “It was really rewarding to hear the jokes landing and ‘eww,’ ‘ugh,’ — all those noises being made. Hearing everybody react and cover their faces at the gory parts — I was just sitting there laughing, and it made me so happy to see everyone reacting that way. I was delighted with joy at how disgusting these moments in our movie are.”

Midthunder stars as the film’s love interest opposite Quaid, whose character Nathan Caine is unable to experience the sensation of physical pain. When the girl gets kidnapped during a bank heist, Nathan sets out to rescue her.

“The first thing that made me excited about this movie actually was Jack Quaid,” says Midthunder of her costar. A mutual friend, director Dan Trachtenberg, had worked with both Midthunder for his film “Prey” and Quaid for an episode of “The Boys,” and suggested they’d make a good onscreen pair.

“All throughout the filming with ‘Prey’ he would talk to me about Jack and be like, ‘he’s such a great guy, such an incredible actor, you guys really need to connect — I feel like you guys would be great working in something together,’” says Midthunder, adding that the director had been telling a similar story to Quaid. “So when this movie [‘Novocaine’] came and it said that he [Quaid] was attached, immediately it was a ‘yes’ for me. And then my agents were like — well, before you say ‘yes’ to the movie, you should probably read the script.”

Although she was already sold on the project, Midthunder was impressed by the complexity of her character.

“I’ve lived inside of the world of big genre and action and period pieces,” she says. “This was the most grounded and normal and vulnerable a character that I’ve ever played has been. Which is funny to say inside of a movie like this, but really I think her journey is one of vulnerability.”

This weekend at the movie theater isn’t just about “Novocaine,” though: Midthunder also stars in “Opus,” a psychological thriller about a music journalist sent to the private island of a former pop star turned cult leader in order to listen to his comeback album. The ensemble cast is led by Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich, who portrays the cult leader.

“To be able to see John Malkovich, who is a titan, show up every day in this role — which is so fun and flashy and strange — and see the level of commitment from an actor of his stature, was the best kind of masterclass,” says Midthunder, who was overseas filming Season Two of Apple TV+ “Monarch” during the film’s Sundance premiere in January.

Spring doesn’t look to be slowing down for the actress. In between all the film promo, she is busy prepping for her next role, which hasn’t yet been announced but likely falls within the action genre.

“I’m doing a lot of training, so I’m doing a lot of fighting, wrestling and knife fighting, and tactical training,” she says. “I’ve always loved action as a viewer and as an actor, but being on the set of ‘Novocaine’ really reignited my love for action.”

Midthunder’s 2022 breakout role in “Prey,” which is part of the “Predator” film franchise, earned her a breakthrough actress nod from the sci-fi-focused Saturn Awards, as well as a Critics Choice award nomination. She’s since starred in the live-action “Avatar” TV series and the film “Rez Ball,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall.

The actress, who’s a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, often celebrates her Indigenous heritage through her approach to red carpet dressing. For the L.A. premiere of “Novocaine,” Midthunder wore jewelry by Native designer Ataumbi Metals, along with a silver strapless Simkhai dress; she’d worn a black version of the same dress to the Vanity Fair Oscars party a week earlier.

“I definitely grew up as more of a beauty girl and I always loved fashion, but I would always say it was not the language that I was fluent in,” says Midthunder, who currently works with stylist Jason Rembert.

“I’ve really been starting to find myself in terms of fashion,” she says. “Working with Jason has been so great because he’s so good at seeing you and understanding you, and making sure that comes through in the expression of what you’re wearing,” Midthunder continues. “That’s always what I’ve admired about style and fashion: that without having to say anything, you can know so much, or have such an impression, and it can be so expressive.”

Similar to the process of filmmaking, she’s enjoyed the collaborative nature of red carpet dressing, giving shout-outs to the makeup artists and hair stylists that have helped the magic happen.

“Even right now, I’m on my way to the airport — I have press in Miami — and I was talking with my friends about airport outfits and what you wear to the airport,” she adds. “I think everything is more fun with fashion when it’s collaborative.”