Regina King: ALL HAIL THE KING

THE WINNER OF FOUR EMMYS AND AN OSCAR JUST DIRECTED HER FIRST FILM AND IS LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF BEING ON TOP

When Regina King was cast in a starring role on the 1980s sitcom 227 at the age of 14, her mother made sure of one thing. “My mum told NBC that if I was going to play Brenda, I wasn’t going to one of those Hollywood private schools. I was staying in public school,” she recalls.

In hindsight, King, 49, says she’s grateful her mother, Gloria, a special education teacher, made that decision. “It was instrumental in me becoming a person who can find balance on shaky ground. It’s not an easy thing, living your life on display, and it’s particularly hard when you’re young,” she says. “But participating in those social situations as a teen gave me an understanding to how different people can be, which has been very helpful when navigating Hollywood.”

King has since managed to successfully steer her career from child actor to Oscar winner and is now, just a year before turning 50, at the top of her game. She’s receiving rave reviews for her film directorial debut, One Night in Miami, a fictionalised account of a true event that occurred on February 25, 1964, when Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) beatboxing world champ Sonny Liston at the Miami Beach Convention Center and spent the evening celebrating with football star Jim Brown, singer Sam Cooke and activist Malcolm X.