One of the few surprises at September’s Emmy awards was Regina King’s win for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.
King was hardly the favorite for her role as a devout Muslim determined to get her brother out of jail on the John Ridley show “American Crime,” which aired on ABC. Having swept past the “American Horror Story” troika of Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates and Sarah Paulson, King was floored as she held her statuette, caught her breath and delivered a speech notable for its warmth — rather than the usual laundry list of agents, managers and other paid representatives. Most notable was her acknowledgment of her 19-year-old son, Ian, whom she called “the best date in the house.”
Finally, you thought, there’s a person up there.
King, 44, has been quietly wowing audiences for 30 years, but television — she got her start on the series “227” — has really given her room to grow. Memorable film roles as Cuba Gooding’s strong-willed wife in “Jerry Maguire” (1996) and Ray Charles’ tragic girlfriend Margie Hendricks in “Ray” (2004) led to a long-running role as Detective Lydia Adams on TNT’s “Southland” (2009-13). Her impressive turn on “American Crime” made her a natural fit for HBO’s enigmatic drama “The Leftovers,” where King plays Erika Murphy, a doctor whose daughter, Evangeline, has gone missing — perhaps by mysterious means. While her fellow citizens resort to magical thinking to explain the disappearance of their loved ones, Erika, in a powerful monologue, accepts the futility of the situation with clear-eyed honesty.
Sitting in a Soho hotel room in jeans and an orange sweater, King explains why she signed on to do a show that is so out there. “I was a huge fan of [creator] Damon Lindelof with ‘Lost.’ That show was the kind of rebirth of what we’re used to on TV,” she says. “So that alone made me interested when they reached out.”
Season 2 of “The Leftovers” filmed in Austin, Texas, also the location for “American Crime,” and King reveals that there was a month of overlap in production between the shows. “It’s the first time I’ve ever played two different characters in one day,” she says. “It’s tiring because the two characters are very different women, with very different looks.”
To prove her point, King whips out her phone, scrolling until she finds a picture of her new “Crime” character, Terry LaCroix. Gone are Erika’s long braids and jeans. Instead, King is flanked by two tall, handsome men, and she’s wearing a smart, tailored black suit, blue blouse and heels. And a wig.
“She’s very metropolitan. She has kind of textured hair,” she says of Terry. “I knew I was still going to have to be in these braids and I was going to have to come up with a hairstyle that a wig can fit over.”
From the sound of it, King has a more substantive part in Season 2, which returns Jan. 6 on ABC. “Terry is very, very calculated. She is not where she is by mistake. Her son does not have the success he has by mistake. She would not be married to the man she’s married if she did not see that he has the same drive. Their family is just a powerful family. Whole worlds get turned upside down and she immediately goes into damage control.”
While King doesn’t yet know if the Emmy win changed her career, it’s one of the moments that represent a “shift.” Others are “Jerry Maguire” and “Ray.” Of the former, King says it was her first time “really playing a woman.” In the latter, she had many anguished scenes with Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, who she says was surprisingly protective.
“We had that scene in the bathroom the first time Margie tries drugs and at the end of the scene Ray pulls Margie’s dress off. It was just Jamie and I in this tight little bathroom — and the crew — and every time they called, ‘Cut,’ he would pull the shower curtain and cover me with it. I never would have thought that about him. Then I’m like, he’s a Texas boy so that makes sense.”
King has been divorced from record executive Ian Alexander for eight years, but does not rule out remarriage. “In a perfect world I would love to find love again,” she says. “I’m still a girl and believe in falling in love. I think you probably have more wisdom when it happens later in life. Whoever that man is, we have to be clear in defining what family means to us. Because it will include my son — he’s 19 — his children, his ex. My ex.”
So she does not play. Has she always been such a serious person?
King flashes a broad smile. “Yes. I am. I am.”