Interview: Actress Regina King On Having Difficult Conversations About Race

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Society & Culture, News, News Commentary, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2019

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Actress Regina King has been on-screen for more than three decades, working in films and TV shows such as '227' and 'American Crime.' But winning several high-profile awards has rocketed her career to new heights. She has also stepped into the role of director and vowed to produce projects with 50 percent women. She now stars in the new HBO series 'Watchmen,' which is inspired by the graphic novel of the same name. The show deals heavily with issues of race and policing, which has also been a theme across King's other projects.

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0:39.8	Hey y'all, from npr. I'm Sam Sanders. It's been a minute. This week on the show,
0:44.5	actress Regina King. She has been in the biz since she was 13. Way back in the day. You may remember
0:52.4	her role as Brenda Jenkins on the classic NBC sitcom 2 to 7. But you homework after I had a
1:03.1	composition for English class. My most interesting and sister after that, Regina King just kept on working.
1:10.2	John Singleton movies like Boys in the Hood and poetic justice. Other movies like Ray,
1:15.3	consistent TV work, voiceovers and shows like the Boom Docks, Regina King stayed busy and kept
1:21.6	making good stuff. Well, decades into her career now, the industry is finally giving her the
1:27.2	accolades. Many folks think she should have had all along. Regina King won two Emmys for her work on
1:33.7	the ABC drama American Crime in 2015 and 2016. In this year, she won an Oscar for her performance in
1:40.9	the Barry Jenkins film, If Bill Street Could Talk. She is out this month with a new show on HBO
1:47.3	called Watchmen. It's inspired by the graphic novel of the same name. The show deals with issues
1:53.4	of race and policing. A lot of things that we're dealing with right now in America. But Watchmen on HBO
2:00.2	does this thing where it flips traditional notions of race and class and policing on its head
2:05.8	to make its point. We talk about that show and why Regina King gravitates towards work that is
2:11.0	consistently dealing with racial bias. All right, we start this conversation at NPR West together
2:17.3	with Regina King a bit distracted by her phone. You'll hear what I mean in a bit. Also, listeners,
	...

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