Regina King: “Don’t let fears silence you”

Such an eclecticism is rarely seen. Regina King, Academy Award for If Beale Street Could Talk, last year he successfully debuted behind the camera for That night in Miami…, yet she continues to be beloved for her many forays into the pop world, including her role as principal in the cult series The Big Bang Theory. A real force of nature, she enthusiastically accepted Salma Hayek’s invitation to talk about herself during the female talk Women in motion di Kering, the prestigious event that for a decade now has been conveying important voices of showbusiness to the Croisette.

And he surprised the audience with a decidedly pop look signed by Gucci, a kind of Parisian cheerleader from the Fifties.

This talented 50-year-old is unstoppable and enjoys this well-deserved courtship from Hollywood, as evidenced by her presence at Cannes Film Festival with Flag Day by Sean Penn. Next stop? In front of the camera, the all-black western is waiting for her The harder they fall with Idris Elba, while he returns to direct with Bitter Root, an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name.

She has said several times that going to direct was an act of courage for her. What was holding you back before That Night in Miami…?
“I’ve learned a great lesson: never let fears silence you. You ask questions because none are too stupid not to deserve an answer and the only useless one is the one you haven’t asked. “

His work ethic?
“Arrive prepared, but choose your battles carefully, focus on what is important to you and forget the rest.”

When did you decide you wanted to be a director?
“It was not the decision of a moment, but the continuous attention to detail on the set, to the storytelling process. It took me many years to admit it to myself and then say it out loud, until the Southland series production gave me the chance. Then I directed short films and music videos, but never a movie. I felt the need not to be just a gear wheel, I wanted to make decisions, so I did a couple of workshops and started studying seriously ».

Her film debuted in the year in which, for the second time in history, a woman won the Academy Award for directing.
“And being part of this group turned out to be doubly exciting. For once there are no white men behind the camera to tell stories like Nomadland because, let’s face it, usually a female director focuses on stories related to her ethnicity or community, instead that film has universal value ».

What did you think when they asked you to open the ceremony?
«I didn’t know it until the day before, we only talked about delivering a prize and then they put it at the beginning of the ceremony and I was shocked, but you know what? The great masters are the ones who know how to encourage you in crucial moments and Steven Soderbergh told me: “You can do it”. And then he sent me an email saying: “I hope you have comfortable shoes”. How it came to his mind: obviously I had uncomfortable shoes, it’s a gala event, let alone if I had thought about comfort. Instead the distance to cover was pretty long and I just hoped you wouldn’t see it swinging at some point. “

What do you remember of that magical night?
“After the pandemic it was the first real public occasion for Hollywood to get together and it was important for me to best represent the film community I love so much.”

How was she involved in Sean Penn’s Flag Day instead?
“He wrote me a very sweet e-mail, but I didn’t think it was really him because obviously I’m a fan. He told me that he had a script that was very close to his heart, which he would make with his daughter, so we met. I said to myself: If I do this, he owes me a favor. I like the idea!”.

How did you get involved in directing Bitter Root?
“Ryan Coogler told me about it, he said it would be perfect for me and so I decided to work on it with his production company. I realized that I don’t have to work where I am tolerated, but where I am celebrated: I don’t know if he saw That Night in Miami… but my passion, in addition to experience, struck him ».

Dream?
«Directing a TV series pilot, starting a long journey. But anyway I will continue to be an actress because the pay is better (laughs) ».

No cinecomic in the wish list?
“Let’s see first how I get along with Bitter Root, which in any case has less pressure on me than the equivalent Marvel or DC Comics.”

What is the phrase you hear most often from fans?
«After 25 years from Jerry Maguire they still tell me ‘Cover me with money’, they find it adorable and maybe somehow it is».

What do you remember about that set?
“It turned my career around and Hollywood finally looked at me as an adult and no longer as a teenager. On the set, I met a person who is still in my life as a trusted friend, Renée Zellweger. And then at the auditions I was pregnant and motherhood changed my perspective and the way I make decisions. So since then every phase of my life has been linked to a moment of my child’s growth, for example: “it was the time of the first tooth” or similar ».

Its strong point?
“I am honest with myself and I finally do what I want. When you are young, unknown and penniless, you accept all the roles just to get up to speed, but at a certain point I stopped and focused only on what really interested me. Even today I choose a project that I would like to see as a spectator ».

Would you like to act in films that you direct?
«I don’t think about it, I leave it to those who are capable of it. For me it would be a nightmare to direct myself on stage and worse still to direct my partner or my partner on stage ».

What do you remember about The Big Bang Theory?
“I was a guest on the show but I’ve always noticed that the cast made decisions as if they were one entity. One day we had to reread the script together but I was late and finishing an interview. Since I had few lines, I asked someone to read them for me so as not to block colleagues. Nothing to do, they wanted to wait for me at all costs and that gesture made me understand a lot ».

Are we moving towards gender equality?
«The change is taking place but it takes time. But I am happy that today’s teenagers no longer hear phrases like “do this like a girl”. When I was little I used to hear it repeated over and over again ».