Film/television Spears' debut role as the child character Otter, in the Academy-Award-winning 1990 film
Dances with Wolves, earned him national notice at thirteen years old. By the age of seventeen, Spears had acted in both TV and film with other prominent actors such as
Kevin Costner,
Jimmy Smits and
Kim Delaney. Spears' film credits include a major role as the character Dog Star in the 2005
Steven Spielberg-produced
mini-series,
Into the West, which aired on
TNT. In 2014, for his role as Tenkill in
Angels in Stardust, Spears received critical acclaim in
The New York Times. His recent roles include a cameo in Taylor Sheridan's Western series
1883, a supporting role in season 2 of
Reservation Dogs on Hulu, a supporting role in the series
1923, and the principal role of Sitting Bull in the History Channel's two-part docuseries,
Sitting Bull.
Other work In 2005, Michael and Eddie Spears modeled for
Cochiti Pueblo fashion designer
Virgil Ortiz for his "Indigene" clothing line and were featured on the cover of the August 2005 issue of
New Mexico Magazine. In 2013, he hosted the 38th Annual
American Indian Film Institute Awards. In 2014 and 2015, Spears played a recurrent role as
Savanukah, a member of the 1777 Cherokee Delegation, in
Colonial Williamsburg's open-air stage production of
The Beloved Women of Chota: War Women of the Cherokee. He has also served as a musical contributor to other stage productions and media festivals such as the Bozeman Ice Festival and the
Billings Symphony Orchestra. In 2021, Spears performed alongside other acclaimed Indigenous performers in the Billings Symphony Orchestra's symphonic production "Buffalo Crossing," which integrated the traditional music and dance of Plains tribes with orchestral music. ==Personal life==