Regina King
Birthdate: Jan 15, 1971
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
Regina King (birthname: Regina Rene King) is a highly acclaimed actor-director-producer who began her film career under the direction of fellow Angeleno John Singleton, landing roles in three of Singleton’s earliest and best features, Boyz' in the Hood (1991), Poetic Justice (1993), and Higher Learning (1995).
King was then cast in two more high-profile Black movies—first, star-writer Ice Cube’s comedy, Friday (1995), co-starring Chris Tucker, Nia Long, and Bernie Mac under F. Gary Gray’s direction, and grossing a terrific $27.4 million (on a $3.5 million budget), and next, the anticipated Terry McMillan screen adaptation directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan, How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), starring Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, and Whoopi Goldberg, and earning $39 million for 20th Century Fox.
King was cast by director Tony Scott for the top female role in the hit political thriller, Enemy of the State (1998), co-starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Loren Dean, Barry Pepper, and Gabriel Byrne, grossing a hefty $251 million against $90 million costs for Disney/Touchstone Pictures. King joined the cast of Disney’s and director Ron Underwood’s remake of Mighty Joe Young (1998), with Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, Rade Serbedzija, Naveen Andrews, David Paym, er and John Alexander, returning a poor $50.6 million (on a $90 million budget).
Regina King co-starred with Chris Rock (who also co-wrote) in the remake of Heaven Can Wait, Down to Earth (2001), co-directed by Chris and Paul Weitz and co-starring Mark Addy, Eugene Levy, Frankie Faison, Jennifer Coolidge, and Chazz Palminteri, earning only $71 million on a $49 million budget for Village Roadshow Pictures/Paramount Pictures. King continued in comedy mode with another comedy star, Eddie Murphy, in Columbia Pictures’ hit, Daddy Day Care (2003), with Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn and Anjelica Huston under Steve Carr’s direction for Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing, followed by a comedy sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003), starring Reese Witherspoon, with Sally Field, Coolidge, Bruce McGill, Bob Newhart and Luke Wilson, delivering an excellent $125 million return for MGM/20th Century Fox.
King joined the cast of another successful comedy, A Cinderella Story (2004), starring Hillary Duff, Jennifer Coolidge and Chad Michael Murray under Mark Rosman’s direction, earning over $70 million (on a $19 million budget) for Warner Bros. King was then cast in her first award-winning drama, director/story writer/producer Taylor Hackford’s Ray Charles biopic, Ray (2004), starring Jamie Foxx (who won the Best Actor Oscar), Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell, Harry Lennix and Terrence Howard, receiving six Oscar nominations including Best Picture and grossing a fine $124 million for Universal Pictures.
Regina King co-starred in another money-making studio comedy sequel, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005), starring Sandra Bullock (who also was a lead producer with writer-creator Marc Lawrence), Enrique Murciano, William Shatner, Ernie Hudson and Treat Williams, and released by Warner Bros. King appeared in one of her few American indie movies of this period, featured in director/writer/producer Mike White’s comedy-drama, Year of the Dog (2007), starring Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard, John C. Reilly, Laura Dern and Thomas McCarthy, produced by Plan B Entertainment and released by Paramount Vantage after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.
King returned to the studio comedy mode as a co-star with Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, and Lance Gross in director/co-writer Rick Famuyiwa’s Our Family Wedding (2010) for Fox Searchlight Pictures. King then transitioned to directing, beginning with her directorial debut as co-director (alongside co-director/writer Dwayne Johnson-Cochran) of the feature-length non-fiction chronicle Story of a Village, set in Sierra Leone (2014).
Regina King won her first Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress, for her terrific role in director/writer/producer Barry Jenkins’ lovely film adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel, If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), starring KiKi Layne and Stephan James, with Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal and Brian Tyree Henry, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival before a release by Annapurna Pictures, which also produced with Plan B Entertainment.
King made her acclaimed debut as a director of a narrative feature film with her screen version for Amazon Studios of screenwriter Kemp Powers’ Oscar-nominated adaptation of his play, One Night in Miami…(2020), co-starring Kingsley Ben-Adir (as Malcolm X), Eli Goree (Cassius Clay), Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of singer Sam Cooke), launching at the Venice Film Festival—the first time for a movie directed by an African American woman.
King was in the cast of another festival-competing movie, star-director Sean Penn’s drama launching at the Cannes Film Festival, Flag Day (2021), based on Jennifer Vogel’s 2004 memoir, Flim-Flam Man: A True Family History, and with Dylan Penn and Josh Brolin, and released by MGM through United Artists Releasing. King was brought aboard director/co-writer/producer Jeymes Samuel’s imaginative Western, The Harder They Fall (2021), starring Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, and Deon Cole, and after premiering at the London Film Festival, was released for a brief theatrical window before streaming on Netflix.
Regina King was well reviewed as star/producer of director/writer John Ridley’s biopic about Rep. Shirley Chisholm, Shirley (2024), with the distinguished cast of Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Andre Hollan, and Terrence Howard, theatrically released and streamed by Netflix.
King co-starred with Austin Butler in director/producer Darren Aronofsky’s and screenwriter Charlie Huston’s adaptation of his novel, Caught Stealing (2025), with Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent d’Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, Benito A Martinez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny) and Carole Kane, and backed by Columbia Pictures/Protozoa Pictures and released wide by Sony Pictures Releasing.
King played Queen Nehanda in the long-awaited big-screen version of Tomi Adeyemi’s Afro-fantasy epic, Children of Blood and Bone (2027), starring a powerhouse cast including Thuso Mbedu, Tosin Cole, Amandla Stenberg, Damson Idris, Lashana Lynch, Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cynthia Eri, and Viola Davis, guided by director/co-writer Gina Prince-Bythewood, and released by Paramount Pictures.
Regina King Photos and Videos
Personal life
Regina King was born and raised in Los Angeles by her parents, Gloria Jean (a special education teacher) and Thomas (an electrician). King has one younger sister, Reina. King’s parents divorced when she was eight. King attended and graduated from Westchester High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Westchester. King then attended the University of Southern California, majoring in Communications. King was married to Ian Alexander Sr. from 1997 to 2007, when they divorced; the couple had one son, Ian Jr., who committed suicide at age 26 in 2022. King’s height is 5’3”. King’s estimated net worth is $16 million.
Known For
Ray
(2004)
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous
(2005)
Regina King Movies
actor
Previous (31)
- 2025 |
Caught Stealing
asDetective Roman
Burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a treacherous underworld he never imagined.
- 2024 | Shirley
- 2021 |
The Harder They Fall
asTrudy Smith
When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge.
- 2021 |
- 2020 | One Night in Miami...
- 2019 | A Lifetime of Sundays
- 2018 |
If Beale Street Could Talk
asSharon Rivers
A young woman embraces her pregnancy while she and her family set out to prove her childhood friend and lover innocent of a crime he didn't commit.
- 2014 | Story of a Village
- 2014 |
Planes: Fire & Rescue
asDynamite
When Dusty learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he joins a forest fire and rescue unit to be trained as a firefighter, or else his air strip will be shut down.
- 2010 | Our Family Wedding
- 2008 | The Souls of Black Girls
- 2007 | Grindin'
- 2007 | This Christmas
- 2007 | Year of the Dog
- 2006 | The Ant Bully
- 2005 | Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous
- 2004 | Ray
- 2004 | A Cinderella Story
- 2003 | Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
- 2003 | Daddy Day Care
- 2003 |
Daddy Day Care
asKim Hinton
Two men named Charlie Hinton and Phil Ryerson get laid off and have to become stay-at-home fathers when they can't find jobs. This inspires them to open their own day care center.
- 2002 | Turnaround
- 2001 | Down to Earth
- 1999 | Love and Action in Chicago
- 1998 | Mighty Joe Young
- 1998 | Enemy of the State
- 1998 | How Stella Got Her Groove Back
- 1996 |
Jerry Maguire
asMarcee Tidwell
When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.
- 1996 | A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
- 1995 | Friday
- 1993 | Poetic Justice
Facts About Regina King
The Way It Is: Regina King has stated that the realities of show business come down to a basic proposition: “We know that’s the bottom line—if money is made, the powers that be pay attention.”
Biggest Acting Challenge: “My biggest challenge will be to play the totally submissive woman. It takes a toll on you when you play someone who’s far removed from your personality.”
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