On the set of Train Dreams, Nathaniel Arcand was playing a scene that asked his character, Ignatius Jack, to guide a friend through a major loss. He didn’t play the reaction the way it was written. He thought of his grandfathers.
“I remember when I was a kid, that’s the same attitude my grandfathers had,” he later said. “It was like, cry, and then let’s go. Let’s get out of here.”
Then he described what the work feels like when it lands. “When you’re there in the moment, it hits you more. Any actor will tell you, when you just get lost in the moment, you are those people.”
Heartland fans have known him as Scott Cardinal, the ranch veterinarian, since the very first episode in 2007. This year, two films he appeared in, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams, were both nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. He turns 55 on November 13.
Quick answer: Nathaniel Arcand, the Edmonton-born Plains Cree actor who has played Scott Cardinal on Heartland since the 2007 premiere, appeared in two 2025 films nominated for Best Picture at the 98th Oscars on March 15, 2026. In Sinners he played the vampire hunter Chayton. In Train Dreams he played Ignatius Jack, the hero’s best friend. He was not a nominee himself. Best Picture went to One Battle After Another.
He Was There From the First Episode
Arcand was born in Edmonton on November 13, 1971, and is Nēhilawē, or Plains Cree, from Alexander First Nation. His first major role came in the mid-1990s on CBC’s North of 60, as William MacNeil, a sharp, troubled teenager. The part earned him a Gemini Award nomination and set the tone for a long career in Canadian television.
In 2007, he showed up in Heartland‘s premiere, “Coming Home,” as Scott, a close friend of the Bartlett-Fleming family and the vet the ranch leans on. He was a regular presence in the early seasons and returned as a recurring and guest actor later on, with his last confirmed appearances in Seasons 15 and 16.
He has said the character is more than a job. “I always have thought of Scott as the person I would truly want to be as a human being who cares for everyone and every living thing,” he told Horse Canada in 2018. “True to his roots – the one person you can always count on is Dr. Scott Cardinal, DVM.”
The horses were part of the pull. His father’s side of the family, he said, have been horsemen for generations. “Since the very first horse I laid eyes on, I was drawn in immediately and needed and loved being around them.” The set felt like a world of its own. “Besides the great cast I’ve been working with since day one, I am most in love with the horses, the crew, the atmosphere of it all.”
Two Movies, the Same Month
The year that put him in an Oscars conversation happened fast. “I did both films in April 2024, back and forth from Spokane to New Orleans,” he told Alberta Native News. “I gave my best performance to both films and then went home. Next thing you know, both films were being nominated for Oscars.”
In Sinners, he played Chayton, a vampire hunter. In Train Dreams, he was Ignatius Jack, best friend to the film’s hero, Robert Grainier. He has called those his favorite roles so far.
He saw Train Dreams for the first time at the Netflix premiere in Los Angeles. “It was surreal,” he said. “I thought everyone in that movie did incredible work. I cried three times during it. That movie is like watching a poem come to life.”
He had a joke ready about the kind of part he usually gets. “If you look at all my stuff I’ve done, I’m always the best friend of the main guy in the show or the movie. Always the bridesmaid.”
On Oscar night, March 15, he didn’t walk a red carpet. He watched from home on Vancouver Island with his wife and their black cat, Muskwa. “Very excited, for both of them,” he said beforehand. “I’m sure something good will come out of it for them.”
Both films were nominated for Best Picture at the 98th Academy Awards. Sinners won four Oscars, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan. Train Dreams did not win in its categories. Best Picture went to One Battle After Another. Arcand had already said he was rooting for both of his films “to win it all.”
“Contact My Agent”
He has a theory about the two characters, and he said it with a grin. “Ignatius Jack is actually this mild-mannered store owner in this little town, but at night he becomes Chayton the vampire killer. Those both were set in the same era, same time … so if anybody is interested, contact my agent!”
That is the other side of him. He still likes doing the job, then going home. “It’s always just going to do my job as an actor,” he said. “You get an audition and a call back, and then you’re flying somewhere and you’re up in a hotel … you put on your stuff, you go be a character for a minute, and then you go back to normal life. Then all of a sudden, wow, your show’s up for an Oscar.”
He is already looking toward the next thing, including stories of his own. For now, Heartland fans can hold onto the man they met in “Coming Home,” the one who wanted to be the person you can count on. This week he turns 55, still doing the work, still going home to his wife and a black cat named Muskwa.
