Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
All About Tokala Black Elk, the Friendly Waiter on NBC's Happy's Place
The actor says his character on Happy's Place is the "nicest person you’re ever going to meet."
After playing villains and bad guys throughout his acting career, Tokala Black Elk is ready to make people laugh. In NBC’s new comedy Happy’s Place, starring The Voice Coach Reba McEntire, the actor will do just that.
Elk stars as Takoda in Happy’s Place, but where else do you know him from? Read on to learn all about the actor and what he’s been up to before joining the cast of NBC’s newest sitcom.
RELATED: All About Reba McEntire New NBC Sitcom, Happy's Place
Tokala Black Elk is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe
Born in 1984, Elk is from Pine Ridge, South Dakota and grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, according to his NBC biography. The actor is an active member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and, as his name highlights, he’s a direct descendant of Lakota holy man Black Elk, as he shared in an interview with ICT News.
“Charlotte Black Elk is my mother and her family are Black Elk holy men,” Elk told the outlet in 2017. “I can see the beauty in our people and culture, now that I live in Los Angeles. I see the connections that made us who and what we are and how much was protected and kept alive for the next generations.”
In a 2016 post on his Instagram, he said the book Black Elk Speaks by John Gneisenau Neihardt about his relative is “a must read … His visions and stories are known worldwide.”
Tokala Black Elk's name has three meanings
In a 2020 interview with Age of Empires, Elk explained that his name Tokala actually has three meanings. “First, it is the Lakota name for the smallest Fox in North America — the Kit Fox,” he shared. “Second, we had a Warrior Society named for these little foxes; it was said that they used to pack up like wolves and could defeat a black bear when working together.”
“Third, it is a Warrior from the Kit Fox Warrior Society. That last one is my name’s meaning: ‘Warrior of the Kit Fox Warrior Society,’” he added.
Elk also speaks several native languages, his NBC bio states.
Tokala Black Elk became an actor by “complete accident”
Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Elk told Age of Empires he started his acting career by “complete accident” when he drove a friend to an open casting and decided to wait for them inside instead of his hot car in the parking lot. “You’re next,” Elk recalled the casting director telling him before he did an impromptu audition. “But I ad-libbed and was cast in the role of a villain,” he told the outlet.
Tokala Black Elk on Yellowstone
Since then, Elk has stacked up acting credits and often shares behind-the-scenes photos of his work on Instagram. Some of his most recognizable roles include Sam Littlefeather in 2017’s thriller Wind River, starring alongside Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen. After that role, he starred in four episodes of Taylor Sheridan’s Western drama Yellowstone as the character Sam Stands Alone. Elk was also cast in the Yellowstone prequel series 1883, in which he played a Lakota warrior.
His voice appears in the video games Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition and Cyberpunk 2077. And you may also recognize Elk from an episode of Grey’s Anatomy (Season 17, Episode 15) and the tornado film 13 Minutes.
In 2024, he played Officer Daniel in an episode of the sci-fi series Outer Range and is now set to star in Happy’s Place on NBC.
RELATED: The Happy’s Place Theme Song Will Be a Reba McEntire Original
Tokala Black Elk’s role in Happy’s Place
NBC’s new sitcom Happy’s Place is about a woman named Bobbie (Reba McEntire) who unexpectedly inherits her father’s restaurant after his passing. Bobbie is also shocked to find out that her father had another family she never knew about, including a half sister named Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) who is now her business partner.
In Happy’s Place, Elk plays Takoda, a waiter at the restaurant and the tavern’s in-house handyman. “I am so excited to be in a comedy because I have had a career of playing a villain, being a really scary bad guy, somebody that little kids probably don’t want to be around,” Elk told TV Insider. “In reality, I’m a fun person. My character is the nicest person you’re ever going to meet.”
The NBC series also stars Rex Linn as Emmett, the tavern’s longtime cook; Pablo Castelblanco as Steve, Bobbie’s accountant; and McEntire’s former Reba castmate Melissa Peterman as Gabby, the pub’s chatty and energetic bartender.
RELATED: Reba McEntire Says These Voice Coaches Want to Cameo on Her New Show Happy’s Place
In September 2024, McEntire shared a behind-the-scenes video of the Happy’s Place cast in costume doing the viral “Give Me My Money” TikTok trend, with Peterman as the victim of the silly prank, and fans were so excited to see their chemistry on screen together. “Must watch!” one fan commented, while another added, “You guys are a hoot!! Can’t wait!!!”
Watch the Happy’s Place premiere on Friday, October 18 at 8/7c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
