Kali Reis Was Kicking Ass Long Before True Detective: Night Country

FROM JAMES GANDOLFINI to Emilia Clarke, playing the lead in an HBO series can easily make an actor a household name. Those tuning into True Detective: Night Country will be met with a familiar face in the form of legendary actor Jodie Foster, alongside a new talent bound to be a household name: Kali Reis.

Night Country is the fourth installment of the True Detective franchise and the first without direct creative vision from originator Nic Pizzolatto. Instead of pairing two major stars alongside one another, a la Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the series will pair Foster and Reis as two seasoned police officers in the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska, as a new case takes shape. From the very first moments we see her, Reis is magnetic on screen in her role as Evangeline Navarro, an Alaska indigenous native who is deeply in touch with her spiritual side.

But who exactly is Reis, and how did she start her career? Here’s everything you need to know about HBO’s newest star.

Stream True Detective: Night Country Here

Reis Became a Star Boxer Early On

Born in Rhode Island, Reis is of Native American descent (specifically Cherokee, Nipmuc, and Seaconke Wampanoag) and Cape Verdean ancestry, and started boxing at 14, which grew into a professional career. As an amateur, she won a series of notable competitions in the mid-aughts, including the 2007 NYC Golden Gloves and the 2007 Rockey Marciano Championship.

Her push into the big leagues started in 2013, after she fought back from a motorcycle accident to compete for the 2013 Women’s International Boxing Association title. In November of 2014, she won the International Boxing Association crown. Her biggest win came in April 2016 when she won the World Boxing Council title.

Reis’ boxing nickname is that of K.O. Mequinonoag, pulled from the name her mother gave her, which is “the medicine woman of our Seaconke Wampanoag tribe,” according to Reis.

Her Strong Advocacy Led to a Burgeoning Film Career

Throughout her boxing tenure, Reis used her platform to advocate for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls or MMIWG movement. “It’s been an epidemic that’s plagued Native women since the colonisers first stepped foot on our island,” she told Boxing Social in a 2021 interview. “They viewed Native women as being vulnerable and non-educated, or promiscuous. That’s always been their view and that’s so wrong. … These perpetrators find it easy – because it is – to come onto Native land and commit these crimes without getting charged for it. That’s because of a lack of resources, a lack of protection, a lack of a lot of things.”

Her advocacy drew the attention of filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka, who asked if Reis would want to collaborate on a project, which would eventually become the film Catch the Fair One. Distributed by IFC Films in 2022, Reis received a story by credit and starred in the film, going on to receive a nomination for Best Female Lead at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards.

Catch the Fair One, which is currently streaming on Hulu, stars Kali as Kaylee, a former boxer who is searching for her sister who was kidnapped and taken into a sex trafficking ring. It’s a grizzly and brutal film, anchored by Reis’ absolutely magnetic performance. It’s well worth your time.

Stream Catch the Fair One on Hulu

Rent Catch the Fair One Here

True Detective: Night Country Represents a New Chapter for Reis

Reis offered some comments about her experience on Night Country during a press conference in December 2023 that Men’s Health attended, saying that the story drew her into the series. “Being fairly new… I can’t compare anything to what Jodie’s experience is at all,” she said. “But being a fan of just film and cinema, and being a fan of the show, and then being able to read the story that [Director Issa López] created… I wanted to know what happened next. I’m learning that if I enjoy it as a fan, of course, if I have a chance to be a part of it, why not?”

She also drew some fitting parallels between boxing and acting, stating, “Boxing is such an entertainment sport, or entertainment industry in itself. We have a ring up there, it’s our stage. We have to perform. There’s all kinds of acts. We have to put on a show.” She added, “…boxing is an art in itself, but this is just a different form of expression that I can go to and have a lot more longevity. I can hang the gloves up, but this has so many different avenues in it. It’s been a beautiful process thus far.”

Viewers will see some of that beautiful process for themselves when True Detective: Night Country continues to air on Sunday nights on HBO and stream on Max.