Regina King

Thanks to roles in a number of prominent films, Regina King’s distinguished talents have not gone unnoticed by Hollywood. The skilled actress can currently be seen playing ‘Detective Lydia Adams’ in TNT’s drama, Southland, from Emmy Award winners John Wells, Ann Biderman and Chris Chulack, which has been picked up for a third season. Southland focuses on a police unit from Los Angeles, taking viewers into the lives of LAPD cops, criminals and their victims.

In Between filming Southland, King was recently seen as the female lead role opposite Forest Whitaker in the comedy feature titled, Our Family Wedding. Before that she starred in the Lifetime Network original movie, Living Proof, executive-produced by Renée Zellweger and starring opposite Harry Connick, Jr. She had previously starred in Paramount Vantage’s comedy Year of the Dog opposite Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, Peter Sarsgaard and John C. Reilly for director Mike White and the Screen Gems’ holiday-film, This Christmas opposite Mekhi Phifer and Loretta Devine, which opened Thanksgiving 2007, exceeding box office expectations.

King also starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the comedy Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous and voiced "Kreela" in the animated film, Ant Bully. Prior she appeared in the Oscar nominated film Ray, opposite Jamie Foxx. In the film, King portrays Margie Hendricks Charles’ outrageous mistress. USA Today said of her performance: “… and the increasingly versatile Regina King as the tragic Margie Hendricks, who attacks her character’s intense ups and downs with equal gusto.”

King’s recent film credits also include Cinderella Story opposite Hilary Duff, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde opposite Reese Witherspoon and Daddy Day Care opposite Eddie Murphy.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, King made her television debut on the hit sitcom 227. After five seasons, King made the leap to the silver screen with a role in John Singleton’s powerful directorial debut, Boyz n the Hood. She would soon collaborate with Singleton again in Poetic Justice and Higher Learning. King has always been consistent in showing her dynamic range, bouncing effortlessly from dramatic material to comedic performances, like in the hit film Friday with Ice Cube and in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, opposite Martin Lawrence.

But if there were a definite turning point in her career, it came in 1997 with her memorable role as Cuba Gooding Jr.’s wife Marci in the blockbuster film Jerry Maguire. This led to starring roles in How Stella Got Her Groove Back with Angela Bassett, the hit action thriller Enemy of the State opposite Will Smith, the family adventure Mighty Joe Young with Charlize Theron and the comedy Down to Earth opposite Chris Rock.

King also found her way back to the small screen in 2000 with a role in HBO’s acclaimed telefilm If These Walls Could Talk 2 and in the 2002 NBC comedy Leap of Faith, and continues to do voice work on the animated series The Boondocks.

King currently resides in Los Angeles with her son.

Show full bio

Hide full bio