How this Local “True Detective” Star Got from the Ring to the Red Carpet

Kali Reis portrays Alaska State Trooper Evangeline Navarro, co-starring legendary actress Jodie Foster, below right, in the fourth season of the HBO crime drama “True Detective.” Photography courtesy of Michele K. Short/HBO.

East Providence native Kali Reis didn’t see a lot of faces like hers on television or in movies growing up, but that didn’t stop her from blazing one of the more unlikely paths to Hollywood, where she’s now landing leading roles alongside co-stars like Jodie Foster, Sean Penn and Chris Pratt. 

And while pursuing an acting career isn’t for the faint of heart, Reis has been fighting for what she wants ever since she entered a boxing ring at age thirteen.

“I was a rough, tough little tomboy running around,” Reis says. “I wanted to be Bruce Lee or the Karate Kid growing up.” Around middle school, she faced personal challenges while also trying to figure out where she belonged. “Not really knowing my place, being Cape Verdean and Wampanoag, not really knowing my footing … I just needed an outlet,” she says. 

A family friend brought Reis a heavy bag — a punching bag used for boxing workouts — and she was hooked. She began training at Peter Manfredo Sr.’s boxing gym in Providence and went on to earn three titles while becoming the first Indigenous woman fighter to become a world champion.

Boxing’s spotlight gave Reis a platform to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, which caught the eye of writer/producer Josef Kubota Wladyka, who was working on a script centered around the MMIWG epidemic. 

Wladyka came to Rhode Island to convince her to be both a creative collaborator and star in Catch the Fair One, released in 2021. Met with critical acclaim, the film landed Reis a nomination for best female lead at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Photography courtesy of Michele K. Short/HBO.

Soon after, writer-director Issa López was searching for an Indigenous actor to play Alaska State Trooper Evangeline Navarro, a character in the fourth season of the HBO crime drama, “True Detective.” Tough but with a big heart, and navigating her cross-cultural identity as a Dominican and Iñupiat (Indigenous Alaskan), the character was something both López and legendary co-star Jodie Foster saw immediately in Reis.

“I can’t think of anybody else who could have played this role,” Foster says in the series’ official podcast. “[Reis] really expanded her, enriched her.” 

“True Detective: Night Country” premiered in January and became the most-watched season of the crime anthology series.

Reis, who lives in Philadelphia but comes home to East Providence as often as she can, is currently promoting her latest release, Asphalt City, where she stars opposite Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan. She’ll soon start shooting Mercy, a big-budget sci-fi action-thriller starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, scheduled for a summer 2025 release. 

Despite globetrotting to locations around the world, Reis carved out time in March to accept a community hero award at the Rhode Island State House. 

With her family and members of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe present, Reis said, “My full name is ‘Mequinonoag,’ which means ‘many feathers and many talents.’” The name defines her perfectly, almost as much as the inscription on her award: “She needed a hero, so she became one.”