Meet Kali Reis, the Ultimate Badass Before True Detective: Night Country

Playing the lead in an HBO series can make an actor a household name, as seen with James Gandolfini and Emilia Clarke. Those tuning into True Detective: Night Country will find 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. Foster and Reis will star as two seasoned police officers in the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska, as a new case takes shape. Throughout the series, Reis is magnetic on screen in her role as Evangeline Navarro, an Alaska indigenous native who is deeply connected to 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, of Native American descent and Cape Verdean ancestry, started boxing at 14, eventually transitioning to a professional career. She won the 2007 NYC Golden Gloves and the 2007 Rockey Marciano Championship as an amateur, leading to her professional bout career.

In 2013, Reis fought back from a motorcycle accident to compete for the 2013 Women’s International Boxing Association title. Her biggest win came in April 2016 when she won the World Boxing Council title, solidifying her as a force on the big leagues.

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.

Using her platform to advocate for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls or MMIWG movement, Reis has drawn attention from filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka,

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