Regina King in conversation with Reggie Yates
Reggie Yates: Because that is your nickname as well, right?
Regina King: That is my nickname as well, and I think there's something really powerful about having two Reggies on the line.
Reggie Yates: Look at us. Well, I only get called my full government name, Reginald, either by the police or when I'm in trouble with my mother. If at any point I [inaudible 00:00:18] them off, please scream the word Reginald and I will definitely
sit to attention.
Regina King: Right back at you. When I'm in trouble, my mother calls me by my first and my middle name Regina Renee. If I'm out of line, then Regina Renee. Reggie Yates: Well, Reggies aside, I'm so excited to talk to you because I am both a fan of the work that you have done, what you historically began within the '90s, right away through to what is happening for you in your career now. Watching you win awards right the way through to watching you create as a director has been an incredible thing. I want to start at the beginning in a way and we'll get to One Night in Miami, which I saw last night and I'm so excited to talk to you about. You worked with John Singleton and so many others in the '90s and films that in a way defined an era and inspired so many of us myself included. Was your journey to becoming a director inevitable? Did you always know that that was something you were going to do?
Regina King: I did not always know, but I do believe that my journey to become a director was inevitable. It's funny because, throughout this process of promoting One Night in Miami, there have been, I don't know if you've felt this, but sometimes memories come back when you're having certain experiences that remind you or either let you know, oh, wow, that happened in preparation for this moment while I didn't know that that's what was happening. My experiences with John, particularly
in between Boys n the Hood and Poetic Justice. Poetic Justice, once I'd gotten the part, I reached out to John and had just so many questions and I think my excitement and the depth of my questions made him open up or inspired him to
open up his entire preparation process for me. Up until that time, I did not realise all that entails when you're a director to get to the moment that I'm actually spending with the directors as the actor. I was able to see his storyboards and him putting the
storyboards together and watching some films with him that inspired him or that were inspiration for Poetic Justice. I was able to hear him having conversations, deciding what department heads would be coming on board for a couple positions he hadn't yet hired. I was just fascinated and blown away, but I can't say in that moment, I was feeling like I'm going to do this. My respect level for the director definitely moved up a notch or two.
Reggie Yates: I'm going to be completely selfish here and share something with you that I probably shouldn't because it's incredibly uncool, but I feel really lucky having this conversation with you right now because much like yourself I've been on screen for a long time. I've been on TV and in some films have been on screen, in front of the camera for just over 30 years now and I am at the precipice of releasing my first film as a writer/director. It is the weirdest and most exciting experience which you're
going through yourself. Now, you're ever so slightly ahead of me as an Oscarwinning director, that sought to make and release their first film. I am in the edit and I'm a little way away from the actual release of my first feature, but with people now finally seeing your baby, people finally seeing your work, how does that actually feel?
Regina King: The anxiety doesn't go away, Reggie, so just be prepared and congratulations because it's not an easy feat to get to the space of actor and people regarding your directing hyphenate as something that's not a thing that you're doing out of vanity. It's something that you're doing because you truly have realised within yourself that there is a part of the storytelling process that you want to be involved in a much deeper level. You want to have more control of the aesthetic and the tone and the story that you're telling and you're able to do that as a director. I just think as actors, once we made that discovery on a conscious level, we were ready to actively pursue it. One of the things that I've learned along the way, speaking to directors that are veterans, because we're freshmen in this right now. That that nervous energy that we feel, they still feel that to this day, even after having done several films. I really could understand that when they share that with me because I don't know if you still feel this as an actor, but I still get nervous that first day of work, you got to get all of that nervous energy out and I feel like if I didn't feel nervous on my first day or on a particularly big scene, then I should probably be even more nervous because that means it doesn't mean a lot to me. Reggie Yates: Yes. I should take a little detour quickly here because I've completely forgotten about housekeeping that I should have done at the beginning of this conversation that is for anybody that needs it or requires a closed captioning is actually available, so all you have to do is click on the bottom of your screen to get some of that captions there for you. Now, when it comes to actors who have gone on to actually direct, there's a few that I've become obsessed with and really dug into their history as an actor and their history as a director and someone who's around the same age as me who's gone through a similar journey recently is Jonathan Hill, and in a lot of his interviews he said the same thing over and over, which I really liked, and that was him. comparing his time on set as an actor to film school only his tutors were Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. For you, you mentioned John Singleton, who you worked with a ton of times. Would you say that your tutors were
your directors?
Regina King: Well, absolutely but I think even beyond that, once I really understood the process that takes place that doesn't involve me as an actor, it extended beyond that, with spending more time with the production designer and in the art department during times that I wasn't shooting or I'm in my trailer or whatever, waiting for one of my scenes to come up. Just those conversations that I would have in-depth with the prop master. All of those things I think were part of my education along the way, deeper conversations with the DP. I would say in the conversations that I've had with other crew members outside of the director that were as impactful as the directors, were with the camera operators.
Reggie Yates: How important is legacy to you? Because you've got such an incredible body of work as an actor. Films like Ray, for instance, or even go right away back to Jerry Maguire or even something like Friday with a film that inspired so many people I know who work in comedy. How important is that history to not just the work that you're doing today, but the work that you hoped to go onto it.
Regina King: I have to be completely honest. It's hard for me to think of legacy in relation to my career. I just feel like I'm doing what I'm doing, and responding to what is calling out to me, what is speaking to me. I can think of legacy as I think of those careers or those pieces of art that I've watched, or many pieces of art from artists that I feel are just singular. They can do no wrong in my eyes. It's hard for me at least to look at myself like that. It's not that I'm thinking that I can't be received the same way to someone else the way I received some of those artists that are great to me. It's not that I think that it's not possible, but I'm just not in the space of considering it.
Reggie Yates: Maybe I should rephrase the question because I think something that I earned from the people that I admire massively is their decision-making. Their choices reflect their perspective in a lot of ways. For you to be the lead in a show like Watchmen when for instance that has such an important issue at its heart and is making quite an interesting statement in a really fresh way. It's quite daring and I never thought that I would see you be a superhero type caught in a drama that spoke to race that also had crazy elements that spoke to one of my favourite graphic novels of all time. That level of choice is a risk to take that risk and for it to pay off in the way that it has done to me, massively influential.
Regina King: Understood. I do understand what you're saying now. I think as life has moved forward for me, thank God I've acquired a little wisdom along the way. I've gotten to know myself better. Becoming a parent definitely, just cracks your heart wide open and you can look at things beyond yourself and you usually looking at things or making choices with your children. They're the first thing that you consider as you are making decisions. So that being said, I feel like there was a point in my life, and maybe somewhere around 2010, where I think it became very much a common theme that I was gravitating to projects that truly spoke to social issues that were going on or at least holding a mirror and just forcing conversations that encouraged people to look at our reflection, specifically in America. I don't think I was as aware that was happening until Watchmen and look back at everything from Southland, to American Crime, to If Beale Street Could Talk, to Seven Seconds that all of these pieces of work that are the stories that I was a part of, these storytellers that I was collaborating with, our values and our feeling that it was necessary to tell these type of stories were aligned. That is, this space that I've been in and the circumstances that have taken place in my life have led me to these choices.
Reggie Yates: Yes.
Regina King: I guess when you speak about legacy in that regard, it is absolutely important to me. I feel like this film, One Night in Miami, some of the things that are going on within the film speak to that, what does social responsibility look like for you as an artist? I feel that like I said, maybe 10 years ago, it started becoming more clear to me that my personal journey is when using my voice when it comes to social responsibility.
Reggie Yates: Yeah, it's interesting because [inaudible 00:14:57] and the team behind what did an incredible job dealing with something that is so fragile and difficult to get right. How difficult is it as an actor who now is directing putting your trust in someone else, because film is a director's medium and TV is becoming increasingly that as well? To direct now, knowing that you are in charge of the way that people received the work at the end of the day versus putting your trust in someone else, especially with something as complicated as Watchmen, how tough was that?
Regina King: Well, I am interested in collaboration. When I think about projects that I've done early on in my career that did not feel as much like a collaborative process as the projects that I've done in the past 10 plus years, I realised that the first time I had that experience, I think on a conscious level, was Southland. Within next experience, I remember actually saying, I really don't want to be a part of a project if it doesn't feel collaborative.
Reggie Yates: Yes.
Regina King: It doesn't feel like a space where everyone involved feels they can take ownership in it in some way, that feel very secure in the idea that they are bringing something to the table to elevate that project. In that, having this experience for the beginning of the journey with One Night in Miami, it's making sure that once I was brought on board, I had to audition for the role as well as director. As they're auditioning me, I'm auditioning them. Do they feel like a collaborative team? Within that hour and a half of us meeting, I immediately felt I can work with these people every day. I can see spending a huge part of my life with these people. I know that they will be a great support system as we move forward and start to fill out the rest of the team supporting me in taking the time to find those additional collaborators to bring us to the finish line.
Reggie Yates: A huge influence for me in the way that you've gone about his work and his choices, again, this is very much from afar as I've never met or worked with the man, is Barry Jenkins. Beale Street took you to an Oscar. Congratulations on that award. This idea with tutors and working with people who are undeniably both talented and influential, I'd love to know what you learn from Barry Jenkins as a director, and as the captain of the ship, he's gone from tiny movies right away through to being an Oscar winner and also an incredibly influential figure himself. How would you describe the learning experience from Barry Jenkins?
Regina King: I would say one of the big things that I was able to take away from Beale Street is that Barry's attention to detail in the nuanced subtle moments, especially taking the time in those moments, and just being there for the experience, and then seeing the final product. It really helped me to understand how much those moments make the entire project sync. While those moments are not the moments that are on page, on paper, those are the moments that Barry created that were the difference between loving, having Sharon and Joe just a little bit more than you may have loved them if we were doing just only what was on the page. Taking that away from that experience, going into One Night in Miami so soon after having that experience with Barry and already being a fan of his work. I remember thinking, this is why Moonlight was just mind-blowing and why I felt like I was no longer in a movie theatre, I was there, it's because of the subtleties. I was able to infuse moments like that into One Night in Miami. I definitely without a doubt, if I had not had that experience with Barry, I know I would not have been sensitive to the idea that moments like this are absolutely necessary to a story.
Reggie Yates: It would be remiss of us not to talk about One Night in Miami to some detail because it's still fresh in my mind. I saw it last night. I was heartbroken that I never got to see the play. So when I actually heard that you were actually going to collaborate with Kemp Powers and make a feature film, I was so excited, especially as he was actually writing the feature film scripts as well. We've spoken a lot about collaboration. Can you talk me through that process of him adapting it and your
involvement in that adaption?
Regina King: Yeah. First of all, Kemp Powers is just an exceptional talent. I do know that he is writing another play, and he probably would say, do not ever say this again. I read the screenplay before I read the play, and I was blown away by the screenplay. But before I met with him and the producers, I wanted to read the play so that I could see how much it changed. It definitely changed a great deal, but those main themes were still there. But the thing that I felt about One Night in Miami is that the way Kemp's style of writing, I liken it in a way to August Wilson. It's the way people really talk. There are some other playwrights out there that definitely move me, but there's just something about the way Kemp humanised these men. It's the same thing that August Wilson does in his work. While in August's work it's not iconic figures, it's still the garbage man that has to take care of his family is an iconic figure, if you will, because it's a necessary person to even the cycle of life so that we are able to, what would we do if we didn't have someone taking away our garbage? But that man still is a human. He is a man. That's something that I just felt similar to me. I know Kemp would never take that compliment, but that's the feeling that I got when reading that play. Then, just going into those first moments of us meeting each other and us spending hours on FaceTime together in preparation for
the film, I think Kemp really understood that I understood his intention, what he was writing, who he was writing for, who our audience is in this piece. He reminded me the other day that the first time we got on the phone, I said to him, "I love the
screenplay, but I want to add some of the things that were in the play back into the screenplay." That, I think for him probably made him know, "She gets it." For us it was just, we were always in agreement. There was never really a moment that we
disagreed on something. It was always moments of building on something.
Reggie Yates: Yeah. I recently watched a whole heap of interviews with Kemp because I was fascinated as to who was behind Soul, the Disney Pixar movie that was released, I believe it was on Christmas day globally. A lot of people watched it with my family. There were bits that we really loved and for particularly depiction of Black people and Black families and culture. In watching some of the interviews around the film, there was apparently a cultural consultancy group, I believe that's what they called it, where Kemp got a group of people together, not film people, just Black people who he knew, who he thought would be honest. They gave honest feedback on the depiction in terms of the way the Black people looked on screen and
[inaudible 00:26:04].
Regina King: The way they appear in movies. Reggie Yates: Absolutely. That level of detail was something that was mind-blowing for me as someone who is creating myself, and that level of detail I imagine for both of you on One Night Miami must have been incredibly important because the cast on Soul were completely original creations, whereas in One Night, you've got Malcolm X, you've got Muhammad Ali, you've got people that are icons, Sam Cooke. Just how much detail did you go to in ensuring that you were bringing to screen versions of these men? Or were they just that, versions?
Regina King: We definitely went into deep detail because we are also capturing a moment in time. This is not biography of all four of these men. This is a moment in time, that is a snapshot of what brotherhood looks like, of what vulnerability looks like for men and how their vulnerability is actually the thing that makes them strong. It's a snapshot of the young Cassius that we never get the opportunity to see. Yeah, back to subtle moments. We look at all four of those men, almost as gods, as if they had no fears, if they had no emotions, if they had no doubts, if they had no concerns. The reality is that it is impossible to reach the level of success or to be as known as much as they were known in their respective fields and not experienced those things. They're not cyborgs, they're men. There's just couple of little subtle moments throughout the film, whether they were things in direction or things in dialogue that, while we're not trying to hit you over the head with it, there are these subtle moments that humanise him that much more when Cassius, after the prayer, looks at himself in the mirror and it's just that one slight little moment where he
could be possibly doubting himself, but Malcolm asks him, "Are you ready?" He goes, "I'm ready." But we all have those moments. As we fail to realise that this night that actually happened, while it is an imagination of what could have been discussed while they were together on that night, they were also young. They were so young. There is something, in my opinion, very powerful about reminding the world that they were that young. Like you, they had concerns and while they celebrated each other, they also were having a moment of fellowship.
Reggie Yates: Well, I hear congratulations are in order. I believe that Kingsley, your Malcolm X won himself a golf medal last night.
Regina King: Yes, he did. Reggie Yates: He did. To be incredibly [inaudible 00:30:04] , I'm going to double celebrate him because he's a young Brit playing an American icon, or global icon. How did you find him, and where do you stand on this conversation about British actors playing American icons? Because the conversation has already begun with Daniel Kaluuya's latest project and projects that he's had in the past. I have to ask the question, with someone like Kingsley Ben-Adir doing such an incredible job and now winning an award for the job that he's done, where do you stand by? I have a feeling I know where you're going to go with this, but I'd love to hear it from you.
Regina King: Yes. Well, I am so excited that he won. Well deserved, in my opinion. For me I feel like the best actor for the role should play the part. The actor that truly understands the role that they're playing. Kingsley and I had, when I first saw his audition, I was like, "Oh, okay." Of course, I have my own moments of thinking, how are people going to, because as you said, this conversation is going on and it's been going on. But up until that moment, if I was moved by a performance, I really don't care where a person's from. Because as an audience member, to me they truly understood what they were doing, what they were embodying. After Kingsley's first audition, I wanted to give him some notes. I wanted to just talk to him and get to know him and get to know what his relationship was to Malcolm. He said all the things that I needed to hear him say and I think it's unfortunate that this is where we are. One of the things that I've truly understood or discovered throughout this process of One Night in Miami, is that upon first receiving this and reading it, I thought, "Wow, Kemp, this is just a love letter to the black man's experience in America." But then taking that step back and really taking in marginalised people across the world. There are feelings and experiences that black people in the UK, in Brazil feel that are the same as in America. While the history of how a country came
to be may be different, but the marginalisation of a black man is the same, colorism is the same in all of those places. A black man getting on the elevator full of white people and him having to put on a talisman to make them more comfortable just so
he can have a less stressful day is a very real thing whether that black men is in America, in the UK, or anywhere else. Again, Kingsley was the best actor for that role Eli was the best actor for that role. Sure, neither one of them are American. But can they relate to the experience and the pain felt by a black person for being disregarded just because of the colour of your skin? Absolutely, they can. Can they take it upon themselves to make sure they educate themselves on the ways it's specific to America in the history of how black Americans had built this country, it was built on the bodies of black Americans? They can definitely educate themselves on that and they did. I wouldn't change my choices for anyone. One of the things that was really empowering for me is reaching out to Ava DuVernay as I was about to cast Kingsley. I wanted to hear from her, how I should navigate the narrative because I know that's going to come my way and she was like, "Is he the best person for the role?" I said, "Yes." She said there's nothing to navigate.
Reggie Yates: Yes.
Regina King: Yeah.
Reggie Yates: Your answer couldn't have been more perfect in so many ways because there are so many of us particularly on this side of the pond, that feel the same way. I'm so glad that Kingsley's getting accolades that he deserves because he's phenomenon. Before we get to audience questions, I have one more question for you actually about the cast. That is Leslie Odom Jr. When he came on screen as Sam Cooke then he sang for the first time on screen, I literally felt myself getting closer and closer to the screen like, "He is miming way too well for this to be a mime." Then I realised, "Oh my God, that's the guy from Hamilton. He's probably doing this for real in the moment and he's really singing." Then I thought, it occurred to me three-quarters of the way through the movie, A Change Is Gonna Come is going to come. That's where they're leading to, and to end on that song was a real goose bump moment for me.
Regina King: Yeah.
Reggie Yates: With the way that you got there with the Bob Dylan record etc. It was just such a beautiful climax in so many ways. It's such a fitting record. Did you always know that that song was going to be performed and did it have to be performed by a performer? Because to find somebody who can sing Sam Cooke that well, but also act to the standard that all four of your colleagues are performing at, that must have been an incredibly difficult thing during casting.
Regina King: Here's the thing. There never was a moment that I thought that it was going to work out casting, for this particular film, a Sam Cooke that couldn't sing. Because it was always the intention to record these moments live. A lot of people don't realise that those moments in the film that are the needle drops where Malcolm's playing Sam's music. That is also Leslie singing. Yes, we recorded that earlier and even though those are just those little bits that was recorded earlier. Anyone that knows, Leslie Odom Jr.'s voice, knows that he really had to go in another range to emulate Sam Cooke. It was quite beautiful to watch. I knew that it was a risky thing to want to record those things live. But I knew how powerful it would be if they were recorded live. We went to great lengths and we used some of these moments to spend more money in the sound by actually purchasing microphones that were of the period, so that we would have a really specific sound when it came to the Johnny Carson scene and when he came to the Copacabana. That was really important. It's unconventional to do that. Usually when you see these films, you could tell it may be a person's voice, but it was pre-recorded and they're lip-synching to the recording of their voice. Leslie was totally on board with not doing that. He did prerecord everything and we would play the versions of the prerecord when we'd be shooting the audience or when we'd be rolling cameras not on him to preserve his voice. But what you see is Leslie's recording live in the moment.
Reggie Yates: I have to say, I'm so glad that you made that choice because it elevates those sequences so much because we've all seen movies with musical moments where you'll take an hour of film when you realise that somebody is miming or not doing it for real, and this isn't me blowing smoke by any means. But in those sequences in references when you guys are singing and there is that vein on your neck, it's like, "Okay, you are really singing in the moment. This is really happening." As an audience member, thank you for making that choice because it didn't take me out of the movie and it kept me there and made it hit even more. We've got all of 11 minutes before our conversation ends. In that 11 minutes I'm going to try and get through some of these questions that have come through and there's quite a few of them. We should probably ask the questions as quickly as I can and if you can please give me as truncated an answer as you can so we can get through as many of them. If that's okay. Is that all right, Reggie?
Regina King: Yes Reggie, we're going to try, we're going to get through it together.
Reggie Yates: All right, here we go. This is a very short question, but it could be a long answer, but I'm sure that there is something that will come from one because I'm sure this isn't the first time you've been asked this. What is the best piece of advice that you've ever been given? [inaudible 00:40:55] question, but it's a question from one of our viewers.
Regina King: Well, that's always a tough question because I feel like I'm always getting great advice and applying it all the time. So I go to the first piece of advice that I was given that I still use to this day. It was from my mother. She called it the seven Ps, and it's proper prior preparation prevents piss poor performance.
Reggie Yates: Wow. I've heard that before but I've never heard it with the piss through [inaudible 00:41:32] .
Regina King: Yeah.
Reggie Yates: I'm glad I said it that way. Brilliant. Another question for you from one of viewers, it's pertaining to casting. The question essentially is, what is it that you look for in an actor when you cast?
Regina King: I do feel a lot that a role chooses an actor. When that person comes in, and sometimes it can be a few persons. It's just clear that they have a connection to the character in a way that they've been able to find a bit of themselves within that role so that the performance feels like it's coming from a real place. That's what we do as actors. We find a bit of ourselves in there so that we can truly keep a performance grounded and rooted in truth. I'm looking for a performance that's
grounded, that's rooted in truth.
Reggie Yates: I say the [inaudible 00:43:00] for this next question is from Paul Westward. Paul is asking the question, can you state a person or persons, specifically who you think has helped you on your journey to get to where you are today? Is there any one personal moment maybe where you were helped, that you can share with us?
Regina King: Paul, there is not one person, there are several people. I don't think anyone who has had success, has gotten there just because of one person. Most of us, it starts with our mama. That's the biggest fan, that biggest encourager. But off the top of my head, I would say Paris Barclay, director that was a huge supporter of mine. When the first video that I directed, he watched it with the volume down. There were just things that he said that felt like it gave me this permission, to speak about myself as though I'm a director. There are several people like this, but he's just one that came to mind. He is just reminding me as I continue on in this art, to continue to nurture those artistic things within me that are hobbies like drawing and photography. You can employ those things in what you're doing as a director, in what you're doing as an actor. I felt like that was invaluable. Reggie Yates: I'm going to be super selfish here and crowbar a question for me. That hopefully, will speak to some of the people watching because I know that there's a lot of writers and directors watching. As somebody who is a first-time writer director, someone who's due to release my first feature film this year. I have to ask you, what would your advice be as somebody who's been in the business for so long and taken up all of these skills from all the different things that you've done leading up to this point where you're finally making or really about to release your first feature film? What would the best advice be to somebody like myself and to some of the people watching?
Regina King: Yeah. It is the same advice that I give all of the time, is to just not fall into the trap of comparing yourself or your journey to someone else's. I think we so often get caught up in thinking that, "I didn't do this. I didn't go to this school," or, "I never saw that film," or, "That piece of work is not my favourite, and it seems as though every director that has an interview talks about that one piece of work." That doesn't mean that you're not going to be successful or graded your craft. Just because you don't respond to it the same way. I mean, that's the point. That's the reason why you are you, because you're not someone else. It's those attributes that some of them were God given. Some of them were picked up along the way because of your circumstances. But those are the things that make you you, and make you have a signature to your storytelling. I would just say, don't fall into that trap of comparison.
Reggie Yates: That's a great answer. We still got five minutes, that's amazing. We can do some more questions, and I've been selfish at the same time. Look at this, winning. I actually wanted to ask you earlier on, when we spoke about you winning your Emmy Award for Watchmen in one of the strangest ceremonies I'm sure you've ever been to. You actually wearing a Breonna Taylor t-shirt. Somebody has asked the question with everything happening in the world right now, are you having any inspiration for projects in the future? Or are you taking it easier? Now, the reason I said those two things together is that, it's hard to not be affected by what is happening in the world, particularly if you care about your craft. I can't help but have what is happening and what has happened over the last 12-24 months influenced my work. Would you say it's the same thing for you? How important is it for you to both see those influences out and not be silenced in allowing those things to influence your work, but also to publicly make statements about who believes much like you did at the Emmy Awards wearing that t-shirt?
Regina King: I would say yes. I'm developing things that are lighter in subject matter. But yes, quite a few of the other projects that I'm developing still are reflective. They are reflections of what is going on in our world. That is something I can't help what to do. But I am a fun person, I do laugh, I do like to talk shit. That is other things that maybe, if you look at what I've done in the past, again 10 years, may seem as though everything that I do is with the intention of having a particular message, but I would say that there are things that I have in development. The thing that may be different about them is that their story's being told with a person of colour at the centre, but the story itself may not rest on the fact of race or anything like that. I know this is a much longer answer, but soul really inspired me because it reminded me that we can have stories that are about things that the soul is a universal thing, it's not specific to a certain colour or certain culture. But we can still tell a story like that and we be at a leak. We're seeing all of these cultural themes in the black community through Solve. But that's not what the film was about, it wasn't about being black. It was about your soul, and what you do with your soul. I feel like that's quite powerful. I think that's equally as powerful. I think they both are necessary.
Reggie Yates: Yeah. Regina, I have to say thank you so much on behalf of all of the people that can't say thank you to you right now, who are watching this live. I've been fond your work for as long as I can remember, in the early days of knowing that I wanted to make the films that I obsessed over by [inaudible 00:50:50]. You were in pretty much all of them. Genuinely a pleasure talking to you today. I'm really excited for everybody to see One Night in Miami which has a debut feature for is phenomenal. I am so excited for what may come from this film. Thank you so much.
Regina King: Thank you, Reggie. Thank you, everybody that's tuned in. It does mean a lot that you're interested in what I may have to say. Hopefully I've said something that inspires someone, and just at the end of the day, just do you. Look at yourself in the mirror and say, "You know what? I'm pretty good."
Reggie Yates: On that note, thank you so much and goodbye. I really appreciate it.
Regina King: Thank you.
