The Hollywood Reporter - 12.02.2020

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THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 100 FEBRUA RY 12, 2020

KING: VICTORIA WILL/INVISION/AP.

WATCHMEN

: COURTESY OF HBO. RIHANNA: DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES.

Awards

Preview

a period piece and has a limited

budget: You have to dig in even

deeper and find more resources.

Who are some actors that have

caught your attention recently?

Parasite was a really great film.

I wasn’t familiar with any of

those actors, and they’re all great.

The actors who were in the play

Slave Play were quite amaz-

ing. One of the actors, Joaquina

Kalukango, I cast in [One Night

in Miami].

How much do you con-

sider your audience when

picking your roles or

exploring new genres?

I gravitate toward

stories that are inter-

esting to me. So far, so

good. It’s worked out that way

with my acting and so far with

my directing, it’s the same way.

I’m staying the course: What

story is speaking to me? It really

comes down to the story. If I’m

lucky enough to check every

genre that exists along the way

in this thing called Regina’s life,

then that would be the icing on

the cake.

Interview edited for length

and clarity.

‘ A Lot of Firsts’

Regina King reflects

on her Oscar, Watchmen

season two and her

banner year By Josh Wigler

R

egina King’s acting career

started in 1985 with the

sitcom 227 , and, through

the decades, she’s delivered mem-

orable roles in films (Boyz n the

Hood, Jerry Maguire, Enemy of the

State) and TV series (Southland,

American Crime). But the past

couple of years have been the

most monumental of her career,

from the 2018 Emmy win (her

third) for her role on Netflix’s

Seven Seconds to the 2019

Academy Award for supporting

actress in If Beale Street Could

Ta l k. Most recently, she starred on

HBO’s breakout series Watchm en

as police officer Angela “Sister

Night” Abar, who ended the sea-

son as the most powerful woman

in the world.

While the jury is still out on

whether Watchm en will return

for a second season, King, who

has been directing episodic TV

since 2015, will keep busy with a

brand-new undertaking: direct-

ing her first feature film, an

independent adaptation of the

Kemp Powers stage play One Night

in Miami, which started produc-

tion in January.

King, 49, who is nominated

for the NAACP Image Awards’

Entertainer of the Year for the

second straight year in a row,

spoke with THR about Watchm en,

how she chooses her roles and

what’s next in a vibrant and

diverse career.

It’s not just one thing. It’s all of it.

I get into something because the

story speaks to me. Once you’re

in production, so many other

things come up. You get to know

people. You become a family. All

those things carry with you until

the next part of your life. Every

single project becomes ingrained

in your body. It becomes part of

your DNA.

What are you discovering about

yourself as you’re working on

directing your first fea-

ture film?

More than anything, it’s

that I have the energy to

operate on too few hours

of sleep for so many days

in a row. (Laughs.) A nd

when you’re making a

dollar out of 15 cents, you get to

see how everybody rises to the

occasion and are able to dig deep

in their own creative suitcases to

make it all come together. It’s the

process with something that’s

RIHANNA’S

TOP HONOR

At the 51st NAACP Image Awards (airing live on BET), the music

and fashion icon will receive the President’s Award, which is

awarded for special achievement and distinguished public ser-

vice. Previous honorees include Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Jesse

Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Soledad O’Brien and Colin Powell.

NAACP Image

Awards

Feb. 22

Pasadena Civic

Auditorium

King stars in Watchmen, which debuted its

nine-episode season in October.

How would you characterize what

2019 meant for your career?

It was a fantastic year. It was

quite busy and filled with a lot of

firsts. It was my first time being

nominated for an Oscar, winning

an Oscar, it was my first time

starring in a show that was part

of a big franchise and a beloved

comic book — a lot of firsts.

What’s your interest level in seeing

Angela as Doctor Manhattan and a

second season of Watchmen?

I can see myself being involved in a

season two if it was really smart. I

would need to know the beginning

and the endgame, unlike how this

season was. I did not know what

the endgame was. I just totally

trust [creator] Damon [Lindelof].

There’s a part of me that feels like

... it’s just really hard to think we

could top season one, you know?

What are you taking away from

your experience on Watchmen as

you embark on new projects?