When we first meet Chaske Spencer’s Eli Whipp (a name given to him by white people) in the unsparing, unique Western The English (available Friday, Nov. 11, on Prime Video), he is giving orders to white soldiers in 1890 Middle America. The men listen to and respect Eli, who is Pawnee, something that marks this character as different from those often found in the genre.
Comparing Eli to someone played by Clint Eastwood or Paul Newman, Spencer notes how the character is akin to someone you’d see in an old Western, something that was appealing to the actor. “What I love about it [playing Eli] is kind of the throwback to the ‘Man With No Name,’” he says.
Chaske Spencer describes what is was like playing Eli in #TheEnglish pic.twitter.com/RDot4sit44
— Dead Ringers (@DeadRingers) November 9, 2022
Eli, who is battle-weary and has seen everyone he cares about die, is somber, stoic and calm. After his service to the U.S. Army is complete, he aims to travel back home to Nebraska and get a few acres of land in exchange for his work with the military. Instead, he crosses paths with Lady Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt), a woman who has just arrived in America and seeks revenge against the man who killed her son.
While vengeance drives Lady Cornelia, Eli was propelled by different forces to end up where he did, working alongside soldiers. “I think what drove him was losing everything,” he says. “He was a shell of a man when he decided to join up with the Army. He was just angry and sad and just wanted to hurt people.”
After he survives battle and decides to help Lady Cornelia, things change. “He’s trying to find an answer or maybe some solutions for healing,” Spencer posits.
Spencer took an interesting approach to playing Eli. “To me, Eli is a Vietnam vet biker. Because I wasn’t born in the 1800s, I have to find something I can correlate it to and relate it to. He just got discharged and now he doesn’t know what to do with his life because he’s lost everything and is an empty soul.”
The world the broken-down former soldier and Lady Cornelia inhabit is a harsh, unforgiving one, where sudden and shocking acts of violence can occur from any direction. Still, Spencer hopes that people are able to relax and shut out the outside world as they watch it. “I hope that people can just tune out and have fun while watching [the series],” he says.