At a recent roundtable interview she spoke with reporters about how different her recent roles are, what it's like to be the non-blonde in the cast, playing Margie Hendrix, and more.
Regina's character in Legally Blonde 2, Grace Stoteraux, is not the nicest character in the film. In a movie where the lead is such a popular, saccharin-sweet girl, playing the contrast to that could be a risky undertaking. But, that was part of the appeal for Regina because, "I don't have that on my resume, and now I do. Now I'm, 'But I'm not mean in real life.' She comes around in the end ... You love Elle Woods, she's America's sweetheart. Can you imagine if I was like hating her to the end? Gosh, I'd have to be Mary Poppins [in my] next movie, or something if she didn't do something good."
Grace is also a more realistic character, a good opposite for Elle's fantasy world. She is the voice of the audience in thinking, "Is this girl for real?" "That was, I would say, kind of difficult for me, because I felt like my character and Sally Fields are the two that are the most real, the most like people we really know. So, to find a place where you can keep that, but it doesn't look like you're watching two different movies whenever she comes on screen, you know? That was really important to me, to find that fine line. I think the editor [Peter Teschner] and the director, Charlie [Charles Herman-Wurmfeld], we pulled it off ...That was a trick, because they're like two totally – like, 'How can these people be in the same world?' Well, first of all, Elle Woods's world is in her head. That's why, I think just people love it so much, because she ends up being smart in part one."
Elle Woods has become a role model for young girls of today, which some people question whether or not this is a good thing. As for King, her views on Elle as a role model are quite positive, "I don't have a problem with it, one because unfortunately, young girls now, their self-esteem is really low, and they really don't embrace being young ladies. I think Elle's character, she's so feminine and she embraces being a woman, and I think that it just helps these little girls applaud being who they are, because if you go to junior high school and see how girls carry themselves – especially for people who have kids who are grown, or don't have kids at all – you know, you just gasp for air."
King continues, "It's not all about wearing pink and shopping. I mean, of course, you've got to realize that everything when you're watching a movie, it is the movie version, you know, of it all. I think being feminine is all about not necessarily wearing pink, but wearing dresses and still demanding your respect. Especially in this industry, women challenge men much more now because we're saying, 'We can do it, too.' But, along the way, we've let go of being feminine. When you see all the suits in the room, everybody in the room has on suits, you know, the women, too. We're not wearing dresses and chiffon and we're not as fun as we used to be. I just think, I know myself in the past year, I have never worn more dresses and skirts. I mean, I was a victim of wearing pants all the time. But, you know, I'm enjoying being a lady."
Grace is the one black character in the movie, which isn't a very realistic portrayal of Washington, D.C. Another unusual aspect of the character is that race is never brought up as an issue. Regina was asked whether she found this to be a refreshing aspect of the movie or just part of the fantasy, to which she replied, "I think it depends on the situation. I think that that was something that was so, like you said, refreshing about this film, that she's black, she's white, and it has nothing to do with their differences. It does happen. I think sometimes it does play a part in the decision-making and how people regard each other, unfortunately, color does. But in this instance it doesn't, and I've experienced a lot of instances where it doesn't. I've experienced some other instances where it does. Just, for example, this role was written originally for a white woman. Everyone agreed that, 'You know what? Wouldn't it be nice for her to be something else?' Because there are women in politics that aren't white, that have a dream to be successful in the political world. I feel that Condoleezza Rice, of course she dealt with racial issues, but I don't think that ever was, when she went into anything that that like, 'Well, they're probably going to do this because I'm black.' You're dealing with two dynamics, being black and a woman. So, if she let that be the thing that she dealt with as soon as she walked into the room, she would never be where she is today. I think my character probably does not think of, 'I wonder, do they think of me a certain way because I'm a black woman,' because of Condoleezza Rice. In my head, I decided she has a picture on her wall, shaking Condoleezza's hand. Like, 'I'm going to be her one day.' You know? I think it depends on the situation."
Regina's next film role is Margie Hendrix in the currently filming Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story, starring Jamie Foxx. She describes the challenges of switching gears from fantasy to reality, "Like halfway through Legally Blonde, I'm like, 'We're going to do it! It's going to happen!' So, I'm trying to stay in the Legally Blonde and be Grace, but I've got to get ready for Margie, because that is just like a role of a lifetime. It's a little difficult, because one, this woman isn't alive anymore. And two, there aren't a lot of images of her. So, I kind of just had to put a prayer on it and say, 'Margie, speak to me. Just let me do you justice.' I was listening to every Ray Charles song, probably the last two weeks of shooting on this film. Like I said, I didn't want to totally take myself out of it, but I just couldn't wait to start Margie. We are having the most awesome time."
Since there aren't many images available to King, she had to do her research for the role the best she could. "A lot of people that knew her either aren't around or available to talk to, or aren't alive anymore. I really wish I could have met her son, he's still alive. But, they don't have any contact with him. From reading the book and from what Ray said about her in his book, like he said that Margie, he'd never heard a voice that before, there was only one Margie Hendrix. Because she came from this church background and she can go from a tenor to a soprano like that, he would have to really work hard with her to do her parts, but when she got them, it was like wow. So, I kind of felt like Margie was like Ray's muse, in a way. I kind of approached the character from that point, like through Ray."
Biopics are a risky venture. There are a handful of really great ones, and a lot more that are not so great. Regina detailed her thoughts on why the risk seemed worth it, "It is scary going into it, but I've got to tell you, when you have all the people that are involved with this film, involved with it and a good script to start with, you just have faith. You've got to have faith. Taylor Hackford is the director, we had the DP from The Pianist, Jamie Foxx looks and acts exactly like Ray Charles – it's scary. And, Ray Charles just has a great story. In this movie, unlike Ali for example, I thought the performances were great but I didn't feel like I left that movie knowing anything more about Ali. I learned more with When We Were Kings. You know? So, when I first heard about The Ray Charles Story, I was like, 'Dude, get a script over here as fast as you can,' because I just don't want it to be a situation where you don't find something out about this man. Unless you've read his biography, the things in this movie, you're going to go, 'I had no idea.' Taylor has such a love for music. This man has a huge appreciation for music, so the way the songs play in the movie help tell the story. So, I think it's going to be awesome. I really do."
Of her co-star, Jamie Foxx, Regina had only rave reviews from his acting to his singing talents. "I think you got a little intro to how talented he is, with Ali. You know? Because to me, he and Nona Gaye, they shined a lot, really, in that movie. Like, who knew that Jamie had the chops? Who knew that Marvin's daughter was so intense and so awesome? I think a lot of people don't know that Jamie is a trained, classical pianist, and he has a voice that's incredible. He has an ability to make up songs, just right there on the spot. So, I think people are going to see this and go, 'How is that much talent in that body?' You know, he can literally go from making you laugh, to where you're holding your stomach, to making you just like fall in love with his voice and his ability to just get on that piano. It's pretty awesome."
Regina doesn't do any of her own singing in the movie, but Jamie does fill in some of the gaps in recording from the early years for the movie, "We had to use the actual recordings that they actually recorded. But, the period of time from like the '30s to when he started actually recording, Jamie is playing and singing himself, because there aren't any recordings, when he's in Seattle, and meeting Quincy for the first time and all of the stuff before he got to New York. So then once the story starts in New York, that's when we start using all of the original recordings."
The Ray Charles biopic should finish filming in a couple weeks, so what does Ms. King have planned after that? "I'm saying that I'm taking a little break now, because it's been a very busy year. Daddy Day Care, Legally and Unchained all overlapped. I literally have been working from June to June, and this doesn't happen often. You do like take these years and go, 'Ooh, that was a good year. Remember 2003? That was the one.' These three roles could not be more different. You know, like, even when you do have a situation where you have two or three movies in one year, the roles aren't as different as these roles are."
