WEBVTT - Kali Reis on Making History as an Afro-Indigenous Actor 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:05.040 Hey fam, Hello Sunshine. 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:07.960 Today on the bright Side, we're joined by women's boxing 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:13.600 World champion, Emmy nominated actress and writer Kaylee Mcquinninogg Reese. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.439 Can the mindset of a champion carry from the ring 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:17.360 to the screen? 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.200 We'll find out. It's Tuesday, August twentieth. 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.040 I'm Danielle Robe and I'm Simone Boyce and this is 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.680 the bright Side from Hello Sunshine, a daily show where 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.760 we come together to share women's stories, laugh, learn and 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:34.680 brighten your day. Okay, y'all, Today's guest is a barrier 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:38.080 breaker and a history maker. During her career as a 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:43.919 professional boxer, Kaylee ko mcquinnanoggu Reese earned six world titles 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.000 and was the first Indigenous woman fighter to become a 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:50.680 world champion. Most recently, Reese made history by becoming one 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.760 of the first Afro Indigenous actors to be nominated for 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:56.440 an Emmy for her supporting role in the HBO series 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:58.040 True Detective Night Country. 0:00:58.240 --> 0:00:58.360 Now. 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:00.520 If you haven't watched the season of the show, Reese, 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:04.640 who stars alongside Jodi Foster, plays the role of Evangeline Navarro. 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.760 She's a state trooper investigating a cold case and the 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.880 disappearance of a group of Arctic scientists. What I loved 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.120 about this season is that it immersed us in a 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:17.440 culture and a subculture that we don't often get to see, 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:19.880 and the way that they brought it to life on 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:22.280 the screen was just so rich and dynamic and layered. 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:24.920 Yeah, and we're used to the leads in that show 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.280 being men. This season it was women, So it was 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.960 cool to watch. And Kaylee's a woman of many talents. 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.120 She's one of those people that just will not be stopped. 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:37.880 She and her five siblings were raised by their mother 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.480 in East Providence, Rhode Island. At just thirteen years old, 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.640 she found refuge from a tumultuous adolescence in the boxing ring. 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.360 She went on to win nineteen fights during her career, 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.760 five by knockout, and in twenty eighteen, she made history 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.480 when she participated in HBO's first ever women's televised fight. 0:01:57.720 --> 0:01:59.920 And even though Reese has already earned an Emmy nom, 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.360 she's actually relatively new to Hollywood, which is so surprising. 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:06.480 I mean, before True Detective Reese had only appeared in 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.920 two films before she was cast for the show, and 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.880 the HBO series marked her entry into TV. 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:12.920 Acting, and in. 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:15.320 Real life, she's an active supporter of the Missing and 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:19.120 Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Movement, which combats the widespread 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:23.000 issue of violence against Indigenous people. So her advocacy in 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:25.680 the Native community led her to co write and act 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.399 in the twenty twenty one film Catch the Fair One, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.120 which told the story of a boxer searching for her 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.920 missing younger sister. That performance, which was her acting debut, 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.160 earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination. 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.080 So after the break, Kaylee Reese tells us how she 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.840 went from boxing champion to Emmy nominated actor and how 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.440 she's bringing her activism to the screen and beyond. 0:02:47.639 --> 0:03:01.160 Stay with us, Kaylee become to the bright side. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.160 Thank you very much, thanks for having me. 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:04.480 We're so happy to have you. 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:06.560 Yeah, we've been looking forward to this for a minute. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:11.640 Kayleie mquinnanogue Reese, correct, good job, Thank you. Will you 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:13.760 tell us the meaning of your Native American name? 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.320 So, my Native American name it means many feathers and 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.400 many talents, and I got it given to me by 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:18.800 my mother. 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.480 Well, how do you just so naturally embody that like 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:22.959 you are? 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:25.720 That My mom's very special, So she must have known 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:27.720 I was just destined for this journey. 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:29.359 I had no idea what she would have gave me 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.680 a heads up, right, But it's all good. It's it's 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:32.480 all blessings. 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:37.040 Indigenous traditions and stories are so deep and there's so 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.040 much resilience in them. A lot of times, is there 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:42.880 a specific teaching or story that you grew up with 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.080 that your mom told you that sticks out to you. 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:51.880 The stories of how strong and how our society and 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:55.160 how our people are so matriarchal, and how our women 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.560 are so sacred, and where the strength and the backbone 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:02.920 of our people. That's something that she my grandmother, great grandmother, 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.160 and all the women and all the aunties aunties and 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:08.200 all the moms and mama bears I had around, they 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.920 really instilled in me of how strong we are and 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.200 where the strength of our people comes from. And even 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:16.559 the men in the tribe and our people were always 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.640 constant reminders. But my mom, even without saying words, was 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:22.279 just you know where we come from. You know we 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.839 come from where. Anawan's people, which was masasi Osumikin, was 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.800 a great leader of the Wapamog people. 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:30.200 And he had a war chief named Anaalon. 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.160 He used to say autash, which needs means stand strong 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:35.480 to our people, and that's where we come from, a 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:36.240 warrior of people. 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.719 I had to actually tattooed on my back autash. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.200 So it's just kind of like a constant reminder of 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:42.719 how we have to just always stand strong. 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:45.000 You know where you come from. I do know where 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:46.120 I come from. I'm so proud of it. 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.440 To what my question is is where are you going? 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.599 Because that many feathers, many talents could take you a 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:56.120 lot of places. Yes, you just got an Emmy nomination 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.040 for True Detective Night Country. 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.640 Congratulations. 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.240 Yes it is huge, And it's just that's a good 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.240 question where I'm going because I have no idea, but 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.919 I know that I'll be prepared for it. So whatever 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:11.479 I get put in front of me, whatever blessings I 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.080 get with other opportunities I get. 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:14.320 I'm a workhorse. 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.400 I know I got I have the capability to do it, 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:19.240 and if I think I don't. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.320 I'll figure it out, man, I'll figure it out. 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:23.599 So I will say I have a question about the 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.080 Emmy nomination because I think awards mean different things to 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.200 different people. We've talked to some people on the show 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:33.200 that were like it was validation some people said, I 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.919 don't really care. It's just something to hang on my wall. 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:38.760 What does it mean to you. 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:43.520 You know, just to be nominated, especially in this such 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.320 a special time for Indigenous storytellers and creators and just 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.120 Indigenous people and whole. I don't think about it as 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.520 a me thing. It's more like a wee thing, and 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.119 it's just, you know, to be nominated for an Emmy 0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:00.320 alongside Gladstone as well. She's also Indigenous, but I I 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.000 just said this, like, we are both Indigenous, from two 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.720 totally different areas to totally different tribes nations. She has 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.880 a different story than I do, but we are there together, 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.080 and she blew the hinges off the doors getting nominated 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.360 for an Oscar. We're in a golden globe and we're 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:17.599 holding it open, so we're bringing everybody in. And then 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.000 to be kind of checking a few different boxes as well, 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:22.000 because I'm not just Indigenous, I'm kepe verning as well. 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.200 I'm from New England and I'm from Island. 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:27.440 I'm from you know, seaconk Wapanoog from the first Contact people. 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:29.360 So that's like a couple of boxes to be checked. 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.480 Being mixed black Indigenous, you know, that's just so many 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:34.599 things to talk about that I'm in a position to 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.039 talk about with such confidence. I mean, that'd be go 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.080 to win. But I'm not just to be here, to 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.839 be able to you know, be in these conversations and 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:43.960 then I'm just excited for what this could. 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.279 Lead to for the collective kind of thing. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:51.400 This role though, playing a detective, an Afro Indigenous detective, 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:53.640 this is this is a really personal role for you, 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.080 not just because of your own heritage, but also because 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.679 of some of the experiences that you've had with police. 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:03.760 Yes, it is. It was a very weird experience. 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:08.279 So back in twenty twelve, I got badly assaulted by 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.520 a Providence police officer doing my job. So I had 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.760 bad PTSD from it. I went through a really dark 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:16.520 time in my life with it. It was right after 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:19.320 a bad motorcycle accident, so I had a really bad experience. 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.520 You know, use derogatory language towards me, racist, sexist, all 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.880 the above. So I had to do a lot of 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.520 work getting myself out of that. So to put on 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.840 a police officer uniform, to have to play that and 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:36.520 then be an indigenous black indigenous mix, it was definitely 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.600 a visceral kind of a cathartic type of thing, but 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.440 I knew it needed to be done because there are 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.800 a lot of especially women police officers and Native police 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:47.920 officers that have to live that every day. 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.760 It's really interesting that just the act itself of putting 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.880 on the uniform brings up conversations and complex emotions for 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:56.960 people in your community. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.000 It was very, very rad I even had a couple 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.400 of conversations with some of the other Indigenous women on set, 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.920 and they already they kind of gave me that look like, yeah, how. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:04.240 Do you feel. 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.200 I'm like, I don't really know right now, like, but 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.200 I know. It actually gave me a really good character work. 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:11.280 I built a whole backstory for the Navarro and the 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.280 reason why she even got into the military and then 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:15.840 made the decision to be a police officer was a 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.480 It was a kind of a two part answer necessity 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:20.560 and because she is kind of good at that type 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.520 of thing, So it gave me kind of a it 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.720 was a real feeling for my character too, of like 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.080 I gotta put this uniform on, man, like one of 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:30.480 those things that But the uniform doesn't make Navarro. It's 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:33.800 just something she reals very well, and she commands respect 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.040 and authority, but she doesn't command it in a disrespectful 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.160 I'm better than you way. It's like, listen, I'm trying 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:40.800 to do the best I can for us, you know 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.160 what I mean, her, her sister, for her in our 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.920 community that she doesn't really know if she's accepted by. 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.560 There's a lot of Navarro soul layers. It's a a 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.040 never running onion of layers of Navarro layers. 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:55.920 You're a world champion boxer. I'm sort of struck by 0:08:55.960 --> 0:09:00.280 the fact that this encounter with this police officer put 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:03.559 you into such a tail spin, like it's so upsetting 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:05.360 to hear did you press charges? 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:06.439 I actually did. 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:09.200 We come to find out he was an older police 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:13.880 officer and he had been assaulting just regular patron since 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.760 the year I was born, oh since eighty six. Because 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.600 there was quite a few people, a lot of women, 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:21.920 who came forward and said he did some things that 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:24.400 he wasn't supposed to put hands on people, was using 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.400 excessive force, and every time they went forward with trying 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:31.080 to press charges, they'd get threatened by his colleagues and 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.680 they'd get scared into not pressing charges. That happened to me. 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:35.560 Hence the reason why I went into a hole. I 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.320 was like a full blown alcoholic moved away from home 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.199 because after that happened to me, his colleagues would like 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.439 follow me from work and follow me car I was 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:47.360 getting harassed and so I was a little nervous, but 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:49.839 I'm a fighter at heart, so I was like, he's 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:51.880 not going to punk me out of pressing charges. 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:52.880 So I just followed through. 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:55.840 And then he had a book of all these different 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.880 names of people that he assaulted, and we went forward, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.160 got fired and I actually got a whole thank you 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:03.040 from the city of Providen. 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:04.800 It's like, thank you for following through. We got rid 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:05.720 of them. Kind of a thing. 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.400 And I hope you watch True Detective. This is a 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.720 big few to you. I look better in the uniform 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:12.080 than you do. 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:13.199 Elly. 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.320 That takes real strength, mental and physical toughness. 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:17.840 Yeah it was. 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.200 It was a doozy, but it's just another story that 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.360 no matter how far down you think you are, it's 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:25.600 not You don't got to stay there. 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:28.800 There's something that you said about boxing that I want 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.559 to ask you about. You described it as your ceremony 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:32.360 and your prayer. 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:33.880 What do you mean by that? 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.680 So, as you know an indigenous person and just kind 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.199 of how I grew up. Everybody has their medicine. I mean, 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.800 your medicine could be you the best fry cooker at 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.160 Burger King, and you just you get a certain type 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.960 of energy. Energy doesn't have any prejudice, doesn't have a 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:47.600 certain language. 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:48.040 It speaks. 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.520 It speaks to everybody in a certain way. So if 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:52.280 you when you do something, whatever you love to do, 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.640 whether it's put your hair up in the morment, it 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.000 just gives you that really good high energy, high vibration, 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.880 that's your medicine. Fighting again, is always been in my blood, 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.640 and it wasn't the act of the violence. It was 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:06.200 the art of it and the fact that okay, I 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.439 can get better at this. There's a skill you have 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:10.800 to have here. It's not just anger. You actually have 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:12.600 to be really grounded and calm to fight. The more 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.920 angry you are, you can't you get clouded. So more 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.120 and more I found kind of like this solace in 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.280 boxing found me at a time where I really needed it. 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.000 I found it was my medicine. And then you know, 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.200 fast forward to when I went professional, and then I 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.080 really want to try to find my purpose in it, 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:32.120 making the decision and making my culture part of my entrances. 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:35.920 I just knew how powerful and how proud I was. 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.560 Whenever I hate the pow wow drum, I'm like, all right, well, 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:40.520 you know, I can come out to biggie or something, 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:42.959 but what means something to me? This is really important 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:45.439 to me. That's when I started coming out with dancers 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.760 and drummers. I came here at California a few times 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.720 and I asked, first of all his protocol, like tribal area, 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:53.640 thank you for having me in your territory. Who he 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.360 is here that wants to be part of this with 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.520 me to sing their song to represent I don't tell 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.280 them what to sing, like you're gonna sing fancy shawl 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.120 dance and I want to push ups and all this 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.760 other stuff. It was like, listen, this is a ceremony. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.200 I'm fighting for my people, so to be able to 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.400 do that, have our dance be displayed not as a spectacle, 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.120 but as proud as people we are. And that's what 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:18.160 I mean about my ceremony, my prayer, and just the 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.880 energy and the intention I put behind fighting again. 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:22.600 Yes I want to get the win, Yes I want 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:23.160 to get the belts. 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.640 That's great, but the representation I have as this platform is. 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:28.400 You know, people see me as an athlete. There's not 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:30.400 a lot of native athletes out There's not a lot 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.760 of capabrity athletes out there, a mixed person at such 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.680 as myself. So that is my prayer to have representation, 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.839 have those children and I have those people, even older 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.720 people that like, wow, oh my god, she's on TV. 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.040 She looks like me, she's from where we're from. That's 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.839 what I mean about our prayer. There's hope, there's ceremony 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:50.720 in it, and we you know, we have a meeting 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.000 behind everything, and that's just my strength and I'm good 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:56.280 at something. Why not bring positive attention to it. 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.400 We have to take another quick break, but we'll be 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:02.960 right back with Kaylee Reese. 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:10.080 And we're back with Kaylee Reese. So you're a world 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.920 champion boxer. Tell me what happens next. How do you 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:13.760 get into acting? 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.320 By the grace of the creator, I have no idea, Like, honestly, 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:17.839 you know. 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.760 How I even got into it was the director writer 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:23.880 of the first movie I did call Catch the Fair One, 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.880 splitting my DM on Instagram. Honestly, I've always meant interested 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:30.679 in acting. It's never been something that I'm. 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:32.200 Like I'm going to grow up and be in Hollywood 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:32.960 and me an actor brock. 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:35.120 But you know, my mom and grandmother us to put 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:37.000 me in a little plays and I had this little character. 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:38.280 Used to do it for my mother when she came 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:38.840 home from work. 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:40.000 But what was the character? 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.120 Her name is Mary and she smoked a peck and 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.800 every day of Dylan and gather a little duncan down't's 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:47.400 cool feet? 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:47.720 Now? 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.640 I used to like dress up in her hot clothes 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:51.439 like and she used to. I still do it now. 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.320 Her name is me How old were you? 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.600 And I had to be like I don't know, seven 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:55.960 or eight. 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.160 I always love people watching and I would just like 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.160 there's a come farms is like as a Rhode Island 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.640 like a gas station, and like can you go to 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:08.840 companies and get me ladge dunking in the Pakistani Like 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:10.719 like I just used to watch these people around the 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:12.960 neighborhood and just like you know, just imitate. 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:18.239 But it's it's my mom's do marry do marry? Yeah? 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.000 This this director reached out to me the point of 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:21.800 my life where I was. Boxing has always been an 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.000 outlet for me. It's it's taken a lot, but it's 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.760 given me a lot. I've missed birthdays, holidays, my mom's wedding, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.920 but I was in New Zealand fighting for a world title, you. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:30.280 Know what I mean. 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:32.800 It's given me a lot, but I've traveled the world 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:36.640 and it's actually led me into acting. But he caught 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:38.600 me a time where I was really vulnerable and I 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:40.640 was in a weird spot because we had just lost 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:42.600 one of my brothers to brain cancer, and it was 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:44.960 a spot where boxing was our thing. 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:45.920 He was my biggest fan. 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:47.800 I brought him to the gym after he was in 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:49.320 remission to get his motor skills back. 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.160 How was our thing? So it was just not doing 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:52.600 it for me and I was just trying to find 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:53.360 a way to grieve. 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:56.880 And he kind and I was like for whatever reason, 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:58.760 I'm like, all right, boxing didn't have a longevity and 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:00.240 I need to do something. I always have a plan 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:02.320 a through z and you know, I'll figure it out 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.120 kind of a thing. But acting just kept poking at 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:05.520 me like I don't know where to start, Like what 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:08.520 do you do? Like auditions had no idea, but this 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:10.600 meant for me, it'll find me. A week later, he 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.480 inboxed me on Instagram, like I'm like, who's this creep? 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:15.800 But he's just like, you know, I'm so and so 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.960 you've ever thought about acting? And I'm like, yeah, I've 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.000 thought about it. But he's like, I have this script. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.320 He's a direct he did check out yet a feature film. 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.120 He's a TV director, really successful. He just got to 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:28.360 know me, and I was like, you know, in a 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:30.640 weird place. He just came to the house. We did 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.920 a couple of interviews. I read a script. Never read 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.360 a script. I'm like, oh, this is cool. I've never 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.800 acted in my life, but I understand the art of storytelling. 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.680 What happened was I read the script, became interviewed me, 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.320 and I was like, well, dude, I'm training for a fight, 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:44.840 so you can interview me. But I go O the 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.960 jemas far and he came with me and he like 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.640 whatever he saw, He's like, I see something. And from 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.160 there he asked me to help him write this story. 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.040 And then I'm like, I got ideas and I'll give 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.800 you all the experiences that I've had from based around 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.520 missing murder indigenous women. But that's when he started incorporating 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:05.680 my real life into this story. 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:07.880 I want to give everyone a little context that role 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:11.040 you're talking about was a boxer in the film Catch 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.720 the Fair One, and you play an Indigenous woman who's 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.080 searching for her missing sister, which is fictional, but as 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.280 you said, you brought some of your real life experiences 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:19.560 to it. 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.000 Yeah, And as far as the acting goes, he we 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:25.800 would like practice different scenes. 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:27.400 He had a friend of his that was an actor. 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.200 We just did some bouncing off back and forth and 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.480 he would give me all his knowledge he knew about acting, 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.040 and then I was like, okay, so, but he kept saying, 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:37.680 you got it, k you got you got the you 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:41.400 got the sauce. I'm like, way sauce sweets ausa. I'm like, 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.120 what do you mean. He's like, you got something. I'm 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.440 like okay. And I knew from him saying that sometimes 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:48.440 you only need that one person see something. 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.040 You might not understand it. But he said. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:51.760 I was like, well, if you believe it, and I 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:53.800 see that look in your face and all right, So 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:55.160 I don't want to let you down. 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:56.440 So I'm just gonna go hard. 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.640 I'll do my best, And that's really how I got 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.440 into acting, and from there I got nominated for Best 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.400 Actress Since at the Spirit Indie Spirit Awards for that 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:06.000 is a huge deal, which is a huge on my 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.040 first and it was the intention behind it was just 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:09.560 let's tell this story the right way. 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:12.119 I mean, the most recent data I could find was 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.000 from twenty sixteen and it said that in the US 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:18.800 about six thousand Indigenous women and girls were reported missing 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.760 or murdered, but only one hundred and sixteen of those 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.160 cases were logged by the US Department of Justices federal database, 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.080 only one hundred and sixteen. And those stats are probably 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.879 much lower than the reality because so many cases go unreported. 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:33.560 Yeah, that's reported. 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:36.760 To talk about the reported part first, you know, I've heard, 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:38.959 not experienced, but I heard because I've sat down with 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.359