Regina King gets “emotional” remembering conversations she had with John Singleton when she was preparing to direct “One Night in Miami” before he died in 2019, she revealed in a new interview.
The Oscar-winning actor told Entertainment Weekly in a cover story published Wednesday that Singleton was excited about the film, her debut feature as a director, and that he had been an inspiration for her directing. Singleton died at age 51 after suffering a stroke. “One Night in Miami” was released on Amazon Prime in January.
“I get emotional sometimes because I remember having conversations with John while I was prepping for this, when we were in the very beginning stages,” she said. “He was just so excited about it. But I feel like I was able to let him know before he transitioned that he had so much to do with me directing.”
King said she wished she could have heard what Singleton thought about the film, and what pointers the late director would have given her.
“Because the thing about John and I, I think he would have liked the film, but he would’ve definitely told me, ‘Next time you may want to think about...’” she said. “He would have given me that just because our relationship spanned over, shit, damn near 30 years.”
King is one of Entertainment Weekly’s three May cover stars, along with Viola Davis and Chloé Zhao. (Read her full interview at Entertainment Weekly here.)
The “One Night in Miami” director starred as Shalika in Singleton’s 1991 classic “Boyz N the Hood.”
In 2016, she told host Terry Gross on NPR’s “Fresh Air” that prior to that role, she was struggling to get acting work because she had been typecast as a child star, having played Brenda Jenkins on the popular sitcom “227.”
“I mean, prior to ‘Boyz N The Hood,’ I was in such a box as Brenda that I couldn’t get auditions for anything,” she said. “So that was a really frustrating, like, year.”
King later went on to star in other films written and directed by Singleton, such as “Poetic Justice” and “Higher Learning.”
The “Watchmen” actor and TV director paid tribute to Singleton in an Instagram post after he died in April 2019, writing that the legendary director was “one of the greatest to ever do it.”
“One Night in Miami” has racked up three Oscar noms in the Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Song categories.
The 93rd Oscars will air on ABC on April 25.