Boxer-actor Kali Reis nominated for an Emmy for ‘True Detective’

Kali Reis, a former two-division titleholder and trailblazer in women’s boxing, is pioneering new territory outside the ring after it was announced on Wednesday that she has been nominated for an Emmy.

Reis, who co-starred with the acclaimed Jodie Foster in “True Detective: Night Country,” the latest season in HBO/Max’s ongoing legacy offering, joined Lily Gladstone (Hulu’s “Under the Bridge”) in a historic first for Indigenous women in Hollywood.

According to Variety, “This major recognition marks the first time Indigenous women have been nominated for acting Emmys, and they are only the second and third Indigenous actors ever to be recognized in the 76-year history of the television awards.”

In director Issa Lopez’s “Night Country,” Reis plays the role of state trooper Evangeline Navarro, who works in the fictional Alaskan town of Ennis and struggles with her past, including parts of her Indigenous heritage and culture. It’s a dynamic role that required equal parts grit and vulnerability, and critics widely agree that Reis holds her own on screen with Foster, a two-time Academy Award and three-time Golden Globe winner.

“[Lopez] initially made her out as just a hardass, just a hard ex-militant,” Reis told “Interim Champion Podcast with Raskin and Mulvaney” of the director’s vision for her character. “I actually love the layers that we found and that we revealed, because Navarro is a complex, deep character. … Navarro was very interesting to me, too, because going into this new career, being very conscious of my physicality – ‘Put a gun in her hand, make a mean face, make the staredown face, don’t say a word’ – obviously, I can get by a bit in Hollywood. But [Lopez] asked me to tone it down a bit, and that happened to really work for me with the physical parts I did have to do with the character.”

Reis made her acting debut in “Catch the Fair One,” a Josef Kubota Wladyka film that follows Kaylee, a Native American boxer in search of her missing sister, and explores several contemporary issues facing Indigenous people. Reis, an advocate for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement, was recruited to star and co-write. After opening to positive reviews at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, “Catch the Fair One” earned Reis the Jury Award for Best Actress at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

The 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast will air on ABC on Sept. 15 from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Reis (19-7-1, 5 KOs), who competed in the first women’s boxing match broadcast on HBO in 2018, last fought in November 2021, winning a split decision over Jessica Camara to defend her two 140-pound belts and earn another that had been vacated. As recently as last August, she remained the WBA’s “junior welterweight champion in recess.”

In a post to her social media account last month, Reis acknowledged that she had not ruled out a return to boxing, which she also addressed in her March interview with the “Interim Champion Podcast.”

“You know, obviously, I love the sport, I fell in love with it,” Reis said. “And I’m good at it. And I got better as time went on, because my career has been an interesting and a hard one.

“I’m not saying I want another five or six years in the game. …  But of course, as fighters we don’t know how to quit. You got to peel us out of the gym.”

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, has contributed to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be followed on X and LinkedIn, and emailed at [email protected].