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Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of maximum fun.org and is distributed by NPR.

Hey! Hey! It's Bullseye. I'm Jesse Thorn. By the time I guest Regina Hall got her first acting

tape, which was a McDonald's commercial, she had already gotten a master's degree. She was planning to go

into journalism. But the commercial led to a TV show, which led to a movie. The movie was the

best man in 1999, one of the biggest and most beloved romantic comedies of the decade. By the time

the best man was released, Hall was nearly in her 30s, and her part

in the best man led to a bigger part in an even bigger movie, Love and Basketball. She played

Lena, the main character Monica's sister. Now, in show business, that story in and of itself

is not super unique. There are lots of very successful actors who didn't find their calling in high school or whatever.

But Regina Hall went from aspiring to be the next Peter Jennings to being an icon of black

romance movies.

Then, as Brenda Meeks, she became the face of one of the most successful comedy horror

franchises ever.

You remember a scary movie.

Lord I'm ever on a damn.

This is a scary shit.

Oh, I am scared.

Now she's starring in one of the most celebrated films of the year, Paul Thomas Anderson's

...