With the release of the new Martin Scorsese film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” comes a time to shine for local 5-year-old Bravery Nowlin.
The film was made after David Grann’s novel of the same name received widespread acclaim when it was released in 2017. The book focused on a tumultuous time during the 1920s when several parties conspired to murder several wealthy members of the Osage Nation in order to steal their mineral rights.
Due to the need for a predominately indigenous cast, a notice was put out by the film company, Apple, stating the cast required more extras to portray Osage tribal members. Annette Nowlin, Bravery’s mother, said this was how she stumbled upon this opportunity.
“I saw a thing on Facebook looking for extras that could play half-Osage,” she said. “So, I just sent a couple of random pictures and I received an email back a few weeks later.”
Although the Nowlins had sent in submissions to be extras, their expectations were blown out of the water when they were contacted by the filmmakers. Apple had expressed an interest in Bravery as a principal character.
After a slow audition process of exchanging videos of Bravery with the casting director, Nowlin said she finally received an offer from Apple stating that they wanted him to portray the leading role’s son, Cowboy Burkhart, between the ages of 2 and 3.
Some of the people Bravery would be working with were his parents in the film, Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mollie Burkhart, played by Lily Gladstone. While shooting the movie, Bravery also worked with director Martin Scorsese and actors such as Jesse Plemons, Robert De Niro, Tantoo Cardinal, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow.
Once filming began, Nowlin said she was onsite with Bravery in Pawhuska and Fairfax off and on for approximately three months.
She said while her son was on set the crew always made sure she had access to him. Even in scenes where she could not be in the same room with Bravery, the crew would supply her with a monitor so she could watch him. Often times, Annette that in scenes with Bravery she would be in front of the camera but hiding behind a piece of the set somewhere.
She also said the film crew never kept Bravery on set for too long at a time. Most shoots were constrained to less than six hours and she was often able to take him back to their trailer to wait until his next scene.
She recalled one story about a time they were on set when Bravery stumbled into Scorsese’s monitor room.
“Marty is probably one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life,” she said. “Bravery treated him like he was his grandpa. We were filming in a house one day and Bravery was playing peek-a-boo with Leo and Lily. Marty was set up in one of the bedrooms and he was watching the playback, because each scene we would film eight to 10 times. I was sitting in the hallway, not on camera, and I was just waiting when I see Bravery walk into the room Marty was in watching the scene. I was worried about him going in there with all that equipment, but Marty just saw him and said, ‘Hey Bravery, you want to watch yourself on TV?’ So Bravery was just in there sitting on his lap watching the playback with him. They all treated him really well, it was awesome.”
Nowlin said her son appears in about seven scenes in “Killers of the Flower Moon” with one including his sister, Brynlee, as an extra.
“Brynlee actually got to film in the movie,” said Annette Nowlin. “One day on set they were looking for some neighborhood children to be playing with him, his sister and Leo in the front yard and to make Bravery more comfortable they said why don’t you bring his sister to be a part of the scene.”
Bravery Nowlin, while now 5, was about 2 at the time filming began. He doesn’t remember much, but he did recall his favorite part of being on set was when his dad (Leonardo DiCaprio) would give him candy.
Since the movie’s release, the Nowlins have had to attend a few screenings and a red carpet appearance. However, most of Bravery’s castmates did not make an appearance to show they stood with SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and WGA (Writers Guild of America) while they continue to strike.