Regina King is one of the most accomplished actors in Hollywood right now and her best movies and TV series form an interesting mix of projects. King started her career in television, mostly in sitcoms, before gaining more recognition and more roles on the big screen. She has appeared in everything from family movies to biopics to comedies to hard-hitting dramas. King versatility as an actor is nearly unmatched.
Of course, King has also done plenty of work behind the camera. For years, she directed television episodes of series like Southland (in which she also starred), Scandal, and This Is Us. She made her feature directorial debut in 2018 with One Night In Miami, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. With so much experience in front of the camera, it’s no wonder she’s becoming accomplished behind the camera as well. Her next job will be on camera in the Darren Aronofsky movie Caught Stealing, but she is sure to be back behind the camera again as well.
10 Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous (2005)
As Sam Fuller
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Release Date March 11, 2005
Runtime 115 minutes
Director John Pasquin
...King so rarely does comedy.
Sandra Bullock once said that she did not think she should have made the Miss Congeniality sequel, but she does not regret it because she “adores” Regina King. That’s likely how the audience feels about the movie as well. Despite the sequel being unnecessary and getting some flack from critics, it is still among King’s best movies because King so rarely does comedy.
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous follows Bullock’s Agent Hart as some of the friends she made while working undercover in the first movie are targeted. King plays her new partner after Benjamin Bratt did not return for the sequel, and King is a large part of why the movie works so well. While the first movie hits a lot of rom-com beats while still being an action-comedy, this movie is firmly a buddy cop story.
King and Bullock have fantastic comedic chemistry together in some absurd scenes. That is what allows the movie to feel fresh instead of retreading the events of the previous film. Without King’s presence, there would not have been a new dynamic to explore, and the movie would have fallen flat.
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9 A Cinderella Story (2004)
As Rhonda
A Cinderella Story
Release Date July 16, 2004
Runtime 96 minutes
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Hilary Duff
Sam Montgomery
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Chad Michael Murray
Austin Ames
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Millennials know that A Cinderella Story kicked off a slew of similarly titled movies all with the premise that the main character is like a modern Cinderella. Hilary Duff starred in the original movie, and though none of the movies are truly connected to one another, they did all star up-and-coming stars of Disney Channel projects (or other family networks at the time).
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A Cinderella Story |
2004 |
Hilary Duff |
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Another Cinderella Story |
2008 |
Selena Gomez |
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A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song |
2011 |
Lucy Hale |
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A Cinderella Story: If The Shoe Fits |
2016 |
Sofia Carson |
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A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish |
2019 |
Laura Marano |
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A Cinderella Story: Starstruck |
2021 |
Bailee Madison |
The original movie sees Sam (Duff) struggling to get by after the death of her father. Her stepmother and stepsisters lead privileged lives while Sam works in the diner her father once owned and is often ridiculed by them. She has an online pen pal that she confides in, but it turns out that pen pal might be a lot closer than she initially thought in the form of the most popular boy in school.
King plays a supporting role here as Rhonda, the manager of the diner and quite possibly the only person in Sam’s life who is actually looking out for her. She is smart and always ready with a perfectly landed quip that goes over the heads of others. King is a grounding force of strength in a family movie that often feels just a bit too outlandish.
While the movie did not garner great critical response when it was made, it’s become something of a modern classic. It has a strong following of young women who introduce it to new generations. With the release of each new movie in the franchise, the older movies often see a popularity boost again as well. Even Chad Michael Murray, who starred as Austin, has spoken about being interested in revisiting the movie with a sequel 20 years later.
8 Southland (2009-2013)
As Detective Lydia Adams
Southland
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Michael Cudlitz
Officer John Cooper
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Regina King
Detective Lydia Adams
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Shawn Hatosy
Officer Sammy Bryant
Though King got her start on television in the 1980s, many of her earlier TV roles were in single episodes of sitcoms. Southland was one of the earliest instances of King really getting the chance to sink into a long-term dramatic role.
The series focuses on the police officers and detectives in the Los Angeles Police Department. It was often praised for being a more realistic take on a police drama than others on TV at the time. While the first season was more character-driven and focused on longer story arcs, with the second season, and the move from NBC to TNT, the series became more of a traditional police procedural.
King’s character is a detective throughout the run of the show. While other characters are promoted throughout the police officer’s ranks, she remains steadfast in her position. She also has to balance her work life and investigations with her home life, which includes living with her mother. King’s Detective Adams actually continues to have character-driven stories while the procedural aspect consumes the rest of the show, which is part of the reason she became a fan-favorite.
Southland earned two Emmys during its run and a Peabody Award. King was recognized by the NAACP Awards for her work on the show, nominated for every year of the show’s run, and winning twice for Best Actress in a Drama Series.
7 The Leftovers (2015-2017)
As Erika Murphy
The Leftovers is inspired by the novel of the same name. Only the first season of the show, however, follows the events of the novel. The second and third seasons move to new locations and introduce new characters not in the book. King joined the series in the second season.
The Leftovers focuses largely on the Garvey family in the wake of an event that caused 2% of the Earth’s population to simply vanish. In the vacuum left by the sudden decrease in population and the instability as people grieved and searched for meaning, several cults begin, which is a big part of the show’s focus as several main characters become connected to those cults. In the second season, however, the Garvey family moves from New York to Texas and become the neighbors of the Murphys.
King’s Erika Murphy is a doctor at an urgent care clinic. She is a deeply religious woman who seemingly has it all together, but underneath all of that calm is rage and fear waiting to get out. King plays her as a very controlled woman - up until a point. Many of Erika’s secrets and innermost thoughts are exposed during a confrontation with Carrie Coon’s Nora, which was actually a selling point for King signing up to do the show.
King explained to Vulture in 2015 that when she signed on to The Leftovers, it was largely because she hoped to get to act opposite Carrie Coon. When the two finally did get to have a big confrontation scene, it was eight pages long. King explained:
When I signed on to do The Leftovers, one of my hopes and desires was that I would get to have a scene with Carrie Coon. I didn’t know if it would happen or not, but then we got that script, and we saw it was an eight-page scene. We were working and happened to pass [each other] in the makeup trailer and we were both just like [jaw drops]. And it was that moment, when you’re looking into another actress’s eyes, when you both at the same time think without saying it, this is why I do this, this is why I do this.
6 Ray (2004)
As Margie Hendrix
Ray
Release Date October 29, 2004
Runtime 152 Minutes
Though King appeared in the family-friendly A Cinderella Story in 2004, she also appeared in the much heavier biopic Ray. Starring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, the movie chronicled the life of the musician for more than 30 years.
King plays a supporting role in the movie as Margie Hendrix. Hendrix is one of the backup singers that Charles has an affair with while married to one woman and already having an affair with another. Hendrix is someone who becomes fascinated by the other musician, but when she becomes pregnant and he wants her not to have the baby, she ends their relationship. She is a deeply feeling, but also an ambitious woman. Hendrix uses solos given to her by Charles as a way to push for her own solo career.
King plays Hendrix with a great deal of empathy, strength, and that certain sparkle that performers simply need to become successful. King and Hendrix both have it.
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5 Seven Seconds (2018)
As Latrice Butler
Seven Seconds
Release Date 2018 - 2017
Network Netflix
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Anastasia Barzee
Evelyn MacCallister
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Brian O'Neill
Judge Robert P. Dolan
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Gretchen Mol
Sam Hennessy
While some audience members were put off by the unlikable characters that populated the series, the show also proved to be a great reflection of modern racial tension in society.
Seven Seconds is another crime drama for Regina King. Unlike Southland, however, Seven Seconds is a limited series of only 10 episodes. It was inspired by the Russian film The Major and was made exclusively for Netflix.
Seven Seconds examines what happens when police decide to cover up a tragic accident in what becomes a racially charged story. A white police officer accidentally hits and near-fatally injures a black teenager. In shock, he does not call for an ambulance, but instead calls his fellow narcotics detectives for help. A corrupt cop is the one who takes charge of the cover-up, assuming that the teenager is not going to survive.
While some audience members were put off by the unlikable characters that populated the series, the show also proved to be a great reflection of modern racial tension in society. King played the role of the mother of the teenage boy. It’s a part informed by grief, and King took the role very seriously, even meeting with the mother of a boy who was killed by police. She explained to Variety that she hoped she could “honor her” with her performance.
King won an Emmy and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the show.
4 Shirley (2024)
As Shirley Chisolm
Shirley is another biographical film for King. It focuses on Shirley Chisolm who was the first Black woman elected to the US Congress. In 1972, she became the first Black person to run for President under a major political party and the first woman to run as a Democratic candidate. The movie chronicles that 1972 run.
The movie has some incredible talent to back King up with Lance Reddick and Terrance Howard also starring. It’s King who takes the attention in the title role though. While biopics are often fairly standard, running through events that members of the audience already know, it takes a powerful performer to keep the audience interested. That’s exactly what King does, giving her entire heart to her performance as Chisolm.
She has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for the role.
3 Watchmen (2019)
As Angela Abar/Sister Night
Watchmen
Release Date 2019 - 2018
Network HBO
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Don Johnson
Angela Abar / Sister Night
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Tim Blake Nelson
Lady Trieu
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Mr. Phillips / Game Warden
Superhero fans might not have seen a ton of King’s earlier work. When she appeared in the Watchmen series, however, they certainly noticed her abilities.
Watchmen is a limited series made for HBO with the intention of acting as a sequel to the comic book series of the same name. It’s set more than 30 years after that story with original characters to give the audience a fresh take, but still see how things play out in the same universe.
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The show focuses its attention on Tulsa, Oklahoma instead of New York like so many other superhero projects. It sees a world in which vigilantes are outlawed, but in Tulsa, white supremacist attacks have led to conflicts with police. Those conflicts mean that police conceal their identities with masks, just like vigilantes used to, as they work. In addition to making reference to the world of the Watchmen comics, it also references real American racial history, like the Tulsa Massacre otherwise known as the Black Wall Street Massacre, something often ignored in history and pop culture discussions.
King appears as one of the police officers in the series who is looking for a way to shut down the local white supremacist group. Watchmen is one of the most critically acclaimed projects King has ever participated in. That critical acclaim was also reflected in the award season as Watchmen was nominated for 26 Emmys, winning 11, including one for King.
King also won a Critics Choice Award for her performance. The series also won a Peabody Award.
2 American Crime (2015-2017)
As Multiple Characters
King has really found a great genre to show off her dramatic range in crime dramas. Many of her serial roles are in crime dramas, though American Crime is a little different. The series is an anthology show, so each season is a different story with actors who appear in more than one season taking on new roles each time. King played a different character in all three seasons she appeared.
The first season focuses on a trial in which a military veteran has been the victim of a home invasion. The second sees the captains of a private school basketball team accused of sexually assaulting a classmate. In the third, the focus is on multiple different stories about marginalized groups hoping to achieve the American dream.
The first season sees King as the sister of one of the main characters while the second sees her play the mother of one of the accused boys. In the third, she is a social worker who wants to become a mother. Each of her roles is drastically different from the other, and they all allow for an exploration of how women are affected in criminal proceedings in different ways.
King won an Emmy for the first and second seasons of the series and was nominated for an Emmy for the third.
1 If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
As Sharon Rivers
If Beale Street Could Talk is based on the 1974 novel of the same name. The ensemble includes some impressive talent, including Colman Domingo, Diego Luna, and Bryan Tyree Henry among others. When a movie is packed with so much talent, it can be difficult for any one actor to stand out. In this movie, however, all of the performers get the chance to show the breadth of their talent, which is part of why it is so well regarded.
Though the story is told in a nonlinear format, it explores what happens when a black man is falsely accused, and ultimately convicted, of a crime. It tracks the journey of those who would prove his innocence while others want to abandon him. While it provides important social commentary, it is also a love story against all odds.
King appears in a supporting role as Sharon Rivers. She is the mother of the woman whose partner is being falsely convicted. King plays Sharon as unwavering in her support of her daughter. She is there for her, a pillar of strength, even when others around her doubt her belief in the love of her life. She is also the person who travels to Puerto Rico in an effort to get the real story about the false accusation. King is truly fantastic in her performance, showing a depth of emotion and conviction that moved audiences and critics alike.
If Beale Street Could Talk is King's most lauded work. From major award shows to critical organizations, the movie earned more than 170 nominations. It won 73. Many of those were for King, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. There is no doubt that If Beale Street Could Talk is Regina King’s best movie.
English (US) ·