One of my all time fave actress, directors and producers Regina King changed the entire trajectory of her storied and award-winning acting career by choosing to put her child first.
It started after the former child star (who played “Brenda” on the 1980s NBC hit 227) had her son Ian in 1996 with her then husband Ian Alexander Sr.
“I took a break from making films,” she explained to W magazine in its 2019 Hollywood issue released in January around award season. “My son, Ian, was getting to the age, around sixth grade, when kids are starting to spread their wings, and everything that was being offered to me was outside of Los Angeles, except for TV. I didn’t want to travel to make films.”
Because of that move, the If Beale Street Could Talk Oscar nominee focused her career on the small screen.
“I like to say I was one of the first movie actors who made the leap into television,” she said to the interviewer who asked if her silver screen role in Beale, the first feature film after a 10 year break was a comeback film
“I like to use the LL Cool J song: ‘Don’t call it comeback. I been here for years.’
In a 2018 interview with SheKnows.com, the back-to-back Emmy Winner for the American Crime anthology series said, “I did not want to homeschool my son. I didn’t want to have to leave him at home and miss out on all those little milestones and triumphs that happen in a growing child’s life.”
Love it! And loved her while starring as a police officer in the NBC-turned- TBS cop drama Southland in a role written just for her in 2009.
From there, as E! Online summarized earlier this year, the “career renaissance began, with roles in American Crime, The Leftovers, and Seven Seconds coming one after the other. ”
Then, the Boyz In the Hood alum started to clean up at the awards shows.
Her first Emmy win, for work in the first season of ABC‘s anthology series American Crime, came in 2015, with another following suit a year later. At the same time, she began developing a serious passion for directing. Since helming a 2013 episode of Southland, she’s gone on to direct episodes of Scandal, This Is Us, Shameless, The Good Doctor, and Insecure.
In May, it was anounced that King has just inked a first-look deal with Netflix to produce films and television series.
Keeping it all in the family, her sister, Reina, will be head of production, Huffpo reported.
King is proof positive that putting family first is not always a hazard to progress on a career!
Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock (10049423k)
Regina King attends the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, Calif
76th Annual Golden Globe Awards – Audience, Beverly Hills, USA – 06 Jan 2019