Tanis Parenteau

Tanis is best known for playing Jane Halftown, Cayuga Tribal Council Leader, on Billions opposite Paul Giamatti; Sarah Waters, a Mohawk mother on FBI: Most Wanted opposite Julian McMahon and Nathanial Arcand; Lacy Cousins, Ocheole Tribal Chairwoman on Designated Survivor opposite Kiefer Sutherland; and Tammy, the Native American waitress on House of Cards opposite Michael Kelly. As a producer her inaugural film A Big Black Space won Best Canadian Short at Dreamspeakers International Indigenous Film Festival, won the Royal Reel Award at the Canada International Film Festival, was nominated for Best Live Action Short at the 12th Red Nation Film Festival, garnered a broadcasting deal on ARTÉ in Germany, France and Belgium and is screening at events in colleges and universities all over North America. She is now developing a mutli-platform project called Red House which centers around Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Red House just released their first podcast Not Invisible: Native Womxn on the Frontlines. Tanis was born and raised in Peace River, Alberta, Canada. She is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from The New School for Drama. Tanis is proud to say she has graduated with both Wayne Gretzky (UofA) and Tony Kushner (NSD) who each received honorary degrees the same years she completed hers. Tanis' other love is strength training and fitness and has discovered she was born to deadlift--her personal record is 300lbs. She is also a personal trainer. Tanis is proud to say she has graduated with both Wayne Gretzky and Tony Kushner who each received honorary degrees the same years she completed hers. Tanis lives out her passion for performing with tremendous support from her family and friends, and with a duty to Louis Riel, who is quoted as saying, "My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who bring them back."