'Disclosure Day' ends with a bang. Here's how a former news anchor stole the show

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Getting cast in a Steven Spielberg movie is a big deal for any actor.For some, it can lead to awards season acclaim.

For others, it signals an arrival in Hollywood, a sign that they’ve finally made it in the business.For Courtney Grace, the role represents the biggest opportunity she’s had — and a surprising return to her broadcast roots.Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” which finds him revisiting the alien genre of blockbuster that his earlier classics all but defined, centers on two characters brought together by cosmic forces beyond their understanding.

After Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor go on a thrilling adventure filled with car chases and villain monologues, Spielberg hands some of the movie’s biggest emotional heavy lifting to a relative newcomer to Hollywood in the final act.Grace plays the role of an unnamed NBC news anchor tasked with presenting to the world an archive of video evidence proving the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth stretching back decades.By most metrics, her role is small.

She’s on screen for a matter of minutes during the film’s final act.She doesn’t interact with the other characters and she’s mostly speechless.

But moviegoers won’t soon forget her impressive turn, communicating the stakes of a massive cover-up that sought to prevent the knowledge of aliens walking among humanity for decades.Movies With ‘Disclosure Day,’ the director returns to a longtime preoccupation.

Two Times staffers explore his ongoing fascination with extraterrestrials.Spielberg rests the finale on her performance — done entirely behind a TV news desk with a close-up on her face — which takes viewers from shock and dismay to fear and confusion, ultimately leading us into an uncertain but resolute future.Already, fans on social media are pointing out Grace as a standout.Grace has starred in five episodes of Netflix’s “Sweet Magnolia...