This lithe, strikingly attractive performer of stage and screen achieved celebrity with her fine speaking voice as Disney's animated "Pocahontas" (1995). Prior to that highly touted hit, Bedard drew upon her Native American heritage--she's the daughter of a French Canadian/Cree and an Inupiat Eskimo--to make a powerful impression starring as Mary Crow Dog in the made-for-cable telefilm "Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee" (TNT, 1994).

Bedard won raves and several awards for her portrayal of a woman whose spiritual awakening is linked to the violent events of the 1973 siege at the Wounded Knee Reservation in South Dakota. She donned 17th century period garb to play a supporting role in her feature debut, Disney's live-action adventure "Squanto: A Warrior's Tale" (1994). Though proud of her heritage and cognizant of the importance of role models, Bedard has relished opportunities to play roles where her ethnicity was not an issue.