Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress and director.
King got her start as a teen actress on the NBC sitcom 227 as Brenda Jenkins, daughter of Marla Gibbs' Mary. Following the end of that series in 1990, King progressed into more adult-oriented films roles, appearing in the likes of Boyz n the Hood, Friday, Jerry Maguire, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
After a string of more film roles, King returned to television for a variety of acclaimed series, such as 24, Southland, The Leftovers, and American Crime, the latter of which earned her two Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie. She also provided the voices of Huey and Riley Freeman in The Boondocks.
Shortly after winning a third Emmy for her role in Seven Seconds, King appeared in the James Baldwin adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She then won her fourth Emmy for her leading role in the HBO series, Watchmen.
In addition to acting, King is also a director, having directed many episodes of television since 2013. Some shows she's worked on include Scandal, This Is Us, and Shameless. In 2020, she made her feature directorial debut with the drama One Night in Miami....
Selected filmography:
- 227 (1985—1990) as Brenda Jenkins
- Boyz n the Hood (1991) as Shalika
- Poetic Justice (1993) as Iesha
- Northern Exposure (1994) as Mother Nature
- Higher Learning (1995) as Monet
- Friday (1995) as Dana Jones
- Jerry Maguire (1996) as Marcee Tidwell
- How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998) as Vanessa
- Enemy of the State (1998) as Carla Dean
- Mighty Joe Young (1998) as Cecily Banks
- Down To Earth (2001) as Sontee Jenkins
- Daddy Day Care (2003) as Kim Hinton
- Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde (2003) as Grace Rossiter
- A Cinderella Story (2004) as Rhonda
- Ray (2004) as Margie Hendricks
- Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) as Sam Fuller
- The Boondocks (2005—2014) as Huey and Riley Freeman (voices)
- The Ant Bully (2006) as Kreela (voice)
- 24 (2007) as Sandra Palmer
- This Christmas (2007) as Lisa Whitfield-Moore
- Living Proof (2008) as Ellie Jackson
- Southland (2009—2013) as Det. Lydia Adams
- The Big Bang Theory (2013—2017) as Janine Davis
- The Strain (2014) as Ruby Wain
- Shameless (2014) as Gail Johnson
- Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014) as Dynamite (voice)
- American Crime (2015—2017) in various roles
- The Leftovers (2015—2017) as Erika Murphy
- If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) as Sharon Rivers
- Watchmen (2019) as Det. Angela Abar / Sister Night
- Flag Day (2021) as U.S. Marshall Blake
- The Harder They Fall (2021) as Trudy Smith
