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Emmy Empress Regina King on Three Decades in the Industry

STUDIO CITY, CA - AUGUST 07:  Actress Regina King visits 'The IMDb Show' on August 7, 2018 in Studio City, California.
Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb
STUDIO CITY, CA - AUGUST 07: Actress Regina King visits 'The IMDb Show' on August 7, 2018 in Studio City, California.

Regina King is a trailblazer, and the Television Academy has noticed.

The actress and director received an Emmy nom for the fourth year in a row — this time, for Outstanding Lead Actress in “Seven Seconds”, a crime drama series that premiered on Netflix in February.

King plays the mother of a young black boy who’s fatally injured by a white police officer. She talked with Deadline about the role:

As an artist, you have the ability to use your art to move the needle… to have the opportunity to let my artistry do that is a blessing.

I’m a face for 1000s of mothers, unfortunately. It’s sad that I can even say that. But I am representing all of them. That was a big responsibility to me.

King’s career began in 1985 with the NBC sitcom “227.” She’s followed that up as an actor, voice actor, and director in a number of critically-acclaimed projects — including “Friday,” “Jerry McGuire,” “The Boondocks,” and “The Leftovers.”

Damon Lindelof, one of the creators of “The Leftovers,” celebrated King’s ability to pivot from role to role in a 2016 New York Times profile:

“That’s another thing I love about her. Most actors are clamoring to be a lock-in on a series or some sort of prestige cable drama. With Regina, it was like: ‘All due respect, but I’m producing, I’m directing. I still love acting, but I’m not going to commit anything beyond one year at a time.’ That’s something to look up to, because I’m going to be able to do this person a great service, because this might be the only season I get them.”

How has the film and television industry evolved over the past three decades? We’ll answer that question when we talk with King about “Seven Seconds” and other projects.

*Show produced by Paige Osburn, text by Kathryn Fink*.

GUESTS

Regina King, Actress, “Seven Seconds”; director; @ReginaKing

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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