From WNBA highlight reels to the Venice Film Festival, Angel Reese has officially stepped into Hollywood. The Chicago Sky forward added actress to her growing resume with a cameo in Kathryn Bigelow’s latest thriller A House of Dynamite, which premiered Tuesday to an 11-minute standing ovation, ESPN reports.

The film stars Idris Elba as the President of the United States navigating a nuclear crisis, supported by a heavyweight cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Anthony Ramos, Greta Lee, Jared Harris, and Tracy Letts. Reese’s role comes late in the story but lands as one of its most poignant moments. Playing herself, she welcomes Elba’s character to Liberty Arena, where she shoots hoops alongside a group of young athletes. In that scene, the president reflects on how basketball shaped his life before rushing back into the storm of political turmoil.

Bigelow, working from a script by Noah Oppenheim, builds the drama in three chapters that track the fallout of an anonymous missile launch. Reese’s cameo arrives as a rare pocket of hope, underscoring how sports can ground people during times of crisis. The blending of fiction and reality felt deliberate, with Reese embodying her real-life role as a cultural touchstone for a generation of fans.

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Reese’s expanding spotlight

Reese’s presence on the screen reflects her expanding influence off it. In the past year, she has landed on the cover of Vogue, become a fixture at fashion events, and appeared in music videos for NLE Choppa, Latto, and Cardi B. Her crossover into acting now places her among an elite group of athletes carving space in entertainment without slowing down their athletic careers.

She wasn’t the only sports star to touch down at Venice either. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf appeared in another film at the festival, Asteroid, starring Hailee Steinfeld.

For Angel Reese, though, the debut feels like a natural extension of her career arc. Just two years removed from winning a national championship at LSU, she continues to build on her platform in ways that stretch far beyond basketball. With A House of Dynamite rolling out in UK theaters on Oct. 3, expanding internationally Oct. 10, and hitting Netflix Oct. 24, fans everywhere will soon get to see her in action under the bright lights of cinema.