Speaker 1: Hey fam, Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2: Today on the bright Side, Oscar Award winner Regina King
Speaker 2: and her closest collaborator, her sister, Reina King, share the
Speaker 2: secret to sisterly success, both on screen and off.
Speaker 3: It's Tuesday, May seventh. I'm Danielle Robe.
Speaker 2: And I'm Simone Boyce and this is the bright Side
Speaker 2: from Hello Sunshine. Danielle. I saw this movie. I can't
Speaker 2: get out of my head. It's called The Idea of You.
Speaker 2: Have you heard about it?
Speaker 4: Wait?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 1: Because my mom texted me to watch this.
Speaker 5: It's so good.
Speaker 2: It's based on a book of the same name by
Speaker 2: an author named Robin Lee, so there was a huge
Speaker 2: fandom around the book, and the movie stars Anne Hathaway
Speaker 2: and Nicholas Gallatzine. The reason why this is so refreshing
Speaker 2: is because it's a rom com about a forty year
Speaker 2: old mom who falls in love with a hot twenty
Speaker 2: four year old pop star. So already, I just love
Speaker 2: the way that that's flipping so many societal double standards
Speaker 2: on its head. And then they actually call out a
Speaker 2: lot of sexist headlines around age gap relationships, and they
Speaker 2: call out those double standards in the movie, which I loved.
Speaker 2: The film is so defiant because it centers female pleasure
Speaker 2: regardless of everyone else's opinions.
Speaker 3: I kind of love that women are flipping it on
Speaker 3: its head. We see older men date younger women all
Speaker 3: the time, so I actually can't wait to watch this.
Speaker 5: I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 3: You know, Anne Hathaway is really having a moment. She
Speaker 3: was kind of ostracized. Everybody said she was unlikable in Hollywood.
Speaker 3: I've always really loved her, and so this film really
Speaker 3: feels like part of her resurgence.
Speaker 2: I think it's really empowering to see her in this
Speaker 2: role because she gets to kind of gain the upper
Speaker 2: hand in that commentary around just the nastiness that can
Speaker 2: happen in media and celebrity and entertainment reporting. So I
Speaker 2: love that for her. And then just in hearing the
Speaker 2: way that she's been promoting this film, there's some one
Speaker 2: thing that she said that really stuck with me. So
Speaker 2: she was talking about this idea of coming of age stories,
Speaker 2: and she pointed out that we have this idea in
Speaker 2: our head that coming of age stories are something that
Speaker 2: happens to you in your early years. But she said,
Speaker 2: I don't know about you. I feel like I keep blooming.
Speaker 2: So for me, that reframing just totally changed my view
Speaker 2: of what coming of age means. We can have a
Speaker 2: coming of age moment at any point in our life.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Oh, I love that so much.
Speaker 3: And it's also kind of like a new version of
Speaker 3: the rom com. You know, the old version had really
Speaker 3: sort of flat female characters, and she feels so round
Speaker 3: and interesting at imagery of Blooming is even interesting.
Speaker 2: I can't wait for you to see it. I think
Speaker 2: you're gonna love it. I can't wait to talk about it.
Speaker 3: There's actually another female centric show that has just been
Speaker 3: on my mind. Hacks season three is out. I binged
Speaker 3: season one and two. Have you seen this No, but
Speaker 3: everyone tells me that I would love it. I need
Speaker 3: to get on the hackstrain. I love it because it
Speaker 3: centers around comedy in particular, but it also kind of
Speaker 3: talks about the disconnect between the two generations of feminism
Speaker 3: and it's very, very funny.
Speaker 1: I think it's a.
Speaker 5: Must watch juicy.
Speaker 3: Well, speaking of women defying expectations, there's actually a little
Speaker 3: news out that I found interesting. Miss Usa Noeli Avoit
Speaker 3: relinquished her title and her crown to prioritize her mental health.
Speaker 3: She was crowned Miss USA back in September, and then
Speaker 3: just yesterday she took to Instagram to announce her resignation,
Speaker 3: and I want to read you one part that really
Speaker 3: stood out to me. She said, I continue to inspire
Speaker 3: others to remain steadfast, prioritize your mental health, advocate for
Speaker 3: yourself and others by using your voice, and never be
Speaker 3: afraid of what the future holds, even if it feels uncertain.
Speaker 3: That felt like a very mature statement coming from a
Speaker 3: twenty four year old, And I think we're hearing a
Speaker 3: lot more women and people in the news just talking
Speaker 3: about their mental health prioritizing it. I think this is
Speaker 3: something we haven't seen a lot, except for the last
Speaker 3: few years.
Speaker 1: People used to just power through.
Speaker 2: It's really courageous, and like you said, she clearly has
Speaker 2: a lot of self awareness as a twenty four year old,
Speaker 2: I think I would have just powered through at twenty four,
Speaker 2: and I don't know that that would have been healthy.
Speaker 2: So I really admire her willingness to accept the sacrifices
Speaker 2: that come with making such a bold move like this.
Speaker 2: It honestly reminds me a lot of when Simone Biles
Speaker 2: decided to withdraw from the Olympics final at Tokyo. I mean,
Speaker 2: remember all the backlash that she got, Like, there's a
Speaker 2: lot of input and feedback and not all of it
Speaker 2: positive that you are opening yourself up to when you
Speaker 2: make a decision like this, So I think it's really brave.
Speaker 3: You don't often see people take a step back at
Speaker 3: the pinnacle of their career, you know, like we see
Speaker 3: people fight so hard for these moments, for the crown,
Speaker 3: for the Olympics, for a certain job as an executive.
Speaker 3: And I think we're seeing something in culture actually where
Speaker 3: maybe all that glitters isn't gold, and we're hearing people
Speaker 3: talk about that They used to just step away and
Speaker 3: not talk about why.
Speaker 1: Now they're giving us the why.
Speaker 5: To be honest.
Speaker 2: When it comes to the world of pageants specifically, I'm
Speaker 2: kind of surprised that they're still as present in.
Speaker 5: Our society as a whole nother topic.
Speaker 2: I know that a lot of people gain a lot
Speaker 2: from these pageants, from the experience, there opportunities, it sets
Speaker 2: you up for, you know, careers in broadcasts or what
Speaker 2: have you. But there's a lot of it that is
Speaker 2: really dated that reinforces stereotypes that aren't helpful to us
Speaker 2: as women. So maybe this is part of a larger conversation,
Speaker 2: a larger reckoning that we're going to have around pageants
Speaker 2: in general.
Speaker 1: I have so many thoughts on pageants.
Speaker 3: You know, the most beautiful women that I know have
Speaker 3: bumps and bruises and scars and are perfectly imperfect. And
Speaker 3: I've never been a fan of the sort of faux
Speaker 3: perfectionism that pageants.
Speaker 1: And also, there's no male equivalent.
Speaker 3: Where's the male pageant where they're walking around in speedos?
Speaker 5: There is none.
Speaker 2: Mister universe. Bodybuilding, That's the only thing I can think of.
Speaker 2: But it's different, it feels different. You don't have to
Speaker 2: wear a ball gown. You know what feels like the
Speaker 2: theme of this discussion that we just had, Danielle, it's choice.
Speaker 2: It's women's centering choice. I mean, from Anne Hathaway's character
Speaker 2: in this The Idea of You movie to Noeli a Void,
Speaker 2: I mean, these women are boldly, bravely making choices that
Speaker 2: suit them, and they're saying that the opinions of other
Speaker 2: people are insignificant and they don't matter. So I applaud
Speaker 2: these women for making choices. One of them is fictional,
Speaker 2: but whatever.
Speaker 3: It actually takes a lot of self efficacy to do that.
Speaker 3: It's really bold and it's really challenging. So we applaud her.
Speaker 2: All.
Speaker 3: Right after the break, Regina and Reina King tell us
Speaker 3: why they love acting and directing as a family affair,
Speaker 3: and about their latest project, Netflix's limited series, A Man
Speaker 3: in Full.
Speaker 2: We'll be right back, y'all. Welcome back to the bright Side, y'all, Danielle.
Speaker 2: Today is such a special day for the show. We
Speaker 2: are joined by two sisters who are, let's face it,
Speaker 2: Hollywood royalty.
Speaker 5: It's Regina King and Rena King. You can say that again.
Speaker 3: You know Regina King as an Oscar Emmy and Golden
Speaker 3: Globe winning actor. You've seen her in films like If
Speaker 3: Beale Street Could Talk, Jerry Maguire, and so many others.
Speaker 3: More recently, Regina's been focusing on directing and producing projects
Speaker 3: with her sister, Reina King. Raina's an accomplished actress, producer,
Speaker 3: and co founder of their production company Royalties. As sisters,
Speaker 3: they're taking their storytelling to the next level, y'all.
Speaker 2: They are coming in hot off the success of their
Speaker 2: Shirley Chisholm biopic Sureley. Regina and Raina also co executive
Speaker 2: produced the new Netflix series A Man in Full, with
Speaker 2: Regina directing as a well Reina Regina, Welcome to the
Speaker 2: bright Side.
Speaker 4: Hello, Hello, bright Side, Hello bright Side.
Speaker 3: We're really happy to have you here. We've never had
Speaker 3: sisters in studio.
Speaker 5: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: First, yeah, this is special for us.
Speaker 2: Danielle and I always talk about how we wish we
Speaker 2: had sisters growing up. I mean, I didn't have anybody
Speaker 2: to steal my clothes, and I'm still kind of bitter
Speaker 2: about it. You too, are sisterhood goals. How imaginative were
Speaker 2: you as little girls?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 6: White imaginative, I would say, you know, our mother was
Speaker 6: a teacher.
Speaker 4: I still I feel like always will be.
Speaker 6: And we did plays in the house, yes, in our home, in.
Speaker 1: The little place you wrote, produced and directed.
Speaker 7: Wrote, produced, We wrote and produced and directed. But they
Speaker 7: were all improvised.
Speaker 6: Exactly exactly a lot of improvising, lot of living. And
Speaker 6: then there were sometimes that lyrics were provided when it
Speaker 6: was the Prince album or oh okay, yeah yeah, Heart,
Speaker 6: which was a big one for us. What a little
Speaker 6: bit of Jill Silverstein. Yes, where the Sidewalk ends. I
Speaker 6: think we probably memorize half of that book of poetry.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I guess we did variety shows.
Speaker 2: Ran Yeah, y'all did it all.
Speaker 1: So I kind of want you to bring those back.
Speaker 3: Just maybe I'm just saying, yes, you both have been
Speaker 3: acting professionally since you were kids, Regina. I think about
Speaker 3: Boys in the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Living Single,
Speaker 3: how Stella got her groove back, Jerry McGuire, Ray, and
Speaker 3: then of course everything recently, which was harder. They fall
Speaker 3: one night in Miami, The Watchman. I think it's cool
Speaker 3: that you know each other's works so well, like your
Speaker 3: fans of your sister.
Speaker 4: It sounds like, oh yeah, I am a huge fan
Speaker 4: on end offscreen.
Speaker 5: That's what made us become royal ties.
Speaker 7: You know, when Raina decided to no longer continue in acting,
Speaker 7: it wasn't like a big newsflash. She just kind of
Speaker 7: gravitated doing so. I mean, Reina has been a talent agent,
Speaker 7: She's worked in post production, you know, in all these
Speaker 7: different spaces within our entertainment industries that make the art
Speaker 7: of it. She had gathered just so much knowledge along
Speaker 7: the way, and it just made sense to bring all
Speaker 7: of that together.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I'm just a fan.
Speaker 7: Of her desire to, at such a young age, have
Speaker 7: the foresight to exist in all of these different spaces.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about the origins of Royal Ties,
Speaker 2: and I'll start by just zooming out a little bit
Speaker 2: and talk about our boss here and your former co star,
Speaker 2: Reese Witherspoon, who founded Hell of Sunshine out of a
Speaker 2: need to champion female centered stories. And I want to
Speaker 2: know what was the need that you felt called to
Speaker 2: meet with your production company Royalties.
Speaker 7: Wow, I would say a part of it would definitely
Speaker 7: be female driven stories.
Speaker 5: I think more than anything was.
Speaker 7: That we have such a huge love for storytelling and
Speaker 7: being in the business for so long, have noticed that
Speaker 7: majority of artists that put out content certain type of genre,
Speaker 7: certain type of storytelling, and we've always been a fan
Speaker 7: of all of it, and so just wanting to be
Speaker 7: in a space where we can do a little bit.
Speaker 7: If you just look at from a Man in Full
Speaker 7: to Shirley, just the difference between those those two projects,
Speaker 7: stories couldn't be more night and day that one that
Speaker 7: it can be done, and the desire to provide a
Speaker 7: space for those artists that or art without without walls,
Speaker 7: without barriers, you know, without lines.
Speaker 2: I love that you're not afraid to explore that vast
Speaker 2: range between those two projects. Is there is there a
Speaker 2: through line or an intention that you feel grounds each
Speaker 2: Royaltized production and the projects that you seek out.
Speaker 6: I mean, it's funny that you say a through line
Speaker 6: and just going picking backing off what Virginia was saying
Speaker 6: earlier in regards to like female driven stories, that even
Speaker 6: if it's not female driven, we're making sure that women
Speaker 6: have a role in a strong presence in that project.
Speaker 6: But I think for us it is I feel like
Speaker 6: every thing is a formula. You know what we've seen,
Speaker 6: you know, things that have already been done, and it
Speaker 6: is more about thinking about what the POV is, you know,
Speaker 6: the lens that you're coming into that project with and
Speaker 6: being outside the box. So taking what's normal and approaching
Speaker 6: it from a different aspect, you know, or a different lens.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Shirley.
Speaker 3: Shirley Chisholm was one of the most impactful historical figures
Speaker 3: in my life, and I know Simone feels really connected
Speaker 3: to her as well. We both loved the film. I've
Speaker 3: heard you say roles choose the actor. How did Shirley
Speaker 3: choose you? First of all, I think in stature, she
Speaker 3: chose me.
Speaker 7: You know, I'm small but mighty, and I guess I'm
Speaker 7: speaking a bit spiritually as well. You know, this woman
Speaker 7: did something at a time that you know when we
Speaker 7: see women having these first now and then you think
Speaker 7: about the climate in which she was having a first politically,
Speaker 7: a space that was not wanting not only black people
Speaker 7: but women. I mean, at the time that Shirley was running,
Speaker 7: women still weren't able to open up a checking account
Speaker 7: without having a husband, but yet she was running for
Speaker 7: the president of the United States, to just even have
Speaker 7: the endurance to stamina and so that I would have
Speaker 7: the balls to play her. Of course she chose me. H.
Speaker 7: If that makes sense, it makes all the sense.
Speaker 2: They number a lot of sense. And Reina, you play
Speaker 2: Shirley's sister Muriel in the film, and you have worked
Speaker 2: together on the same show two to seven, but not
Speaker 2: in the same scene.
Speaker 5: So to now, all.
Speaker 2: These years later, get to actually play sisters and share
Speaker 2: scenes together, I mean that sounds like such a special experience.
Speaker 5: It truly was.
Speaker 6: And what other time and what other moment or opportunity
Speaker 6: would present itself that we would actually be able to
Speaker 6: do that I mean, it.
Speaker 5: Was not planned.
Speaker 6: It was not part of any original discussion in the
Speaker 6: writing of that script and the discussion of production. And
Speaker 6: I first said no, and I thought about it. I
Speaker 6: talked to Regina. I felt like, when would I get
Speaker 6: an opportunity like this again? I think somewhere inside of me,
Speaker 6: deep down, the acting bug is always there.
Speaker 5: I'm a big fan of theater.
Speaker 6: I used to say, Oh, if I were to go back,
Speaker 6: I would do something on stage.
Speaker 5: So it was in there, but it was thirty years
Speaker 5: deep in there.
Speaker 6: And when would we have the opportunity to be on
Speaker 6: the same project and also be playing sisters for this
Speaker 6: project about this woman that we were so passionate about
Speaker 6: getting out to the masses to audiences not just within
Speaker 6: the country but globally.
Speaker 4: Who else but me should have played that role.
Speaker 2: I was talking to my mom about Shirley Chisholm, and
Speaker 2: she reminded me that my grandmother was inspired to run
Speaker 2: for office because of Shirley, and my grandmother became a
Speaker 2: school board member in nineteen seventy seven. She was the
Speaker 2: only black member on the school board in Prince George's
Speaker 2: County during integration and bussing, and.
Speaker 5: It's because of Shirley.
Speaker 2: So wow, just thinking about her impact and all the
Speaker 2: future Shirley's that will see just gives me chills, and that.
Speaker 5: Would make her very happy.
Speaker 6: It makes Shirley very happy and very proud because I
Speaker 6: think that was part of inspiring and getting people to
Speaker 6: be active.
Speaker 5: So that would make her very happy to.
Speaker 2: Hear that you both had been working on this project
Speaker 2: for fifteen years. That is an investment of time, of passion,
Speaker 2: of love, of dedication.
Speaker 5: What kept you going?
Speaker 7: I think, just like what you just shared about your grandmother,
Speaker 7: you know, I think that encapsulates all of the things
Speaker 7: that kept us going and not letting go even when
Speaker 7: we veered off and did other projects and came back
Speaker 7: to it. I guess it all comes back to endurance
Speaker 7: and inspiration from others. It's interesting going back to recent
Speaker 7: Hello Sunshine in a space for women, I feel like
Speaker 7: thank God for women, like thank God for each other,
Speaker 7: you know what I mean, especially when it comes to
Speaker 7: Black women and all women, but specifically Black women, being
Speaker 7: the one human being that is the most in a
Speaker 7: lot of ways unwanted. The way we lean on our mothers,
Speaker 7: our grandmothers, our sisters, our friends, We're just each other's pulse.
Speaker 7: I mean, it's pretty fantastic and it's really hard to
Speaker 7: put in words, but it's that that made us never
Speaker 7: let go. It's that energy that it it's molecular.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: You just mentioned Reese and you did an interview with
Speaker 3: her a few years ago and she said one of
Speaker 3: the first things she noticed about you was truth. And
Speaker 3: now I get to meet your sister and I'm noticing
Speaker 3: the same thing. Oh yeah, Why are you guys truth seekers?
Speaker 5: Is that?
Speaker 1: Where does that come from?
Speaker 5: I guess you just don't know any other way to be.
Speaker 6: It's another one of those things I think that are
Speaker 6: in our DNA. I mean, nobody wants to be lied to,
Speaker 6: but I feel like, you know, the world that we
Speaker 6: live in is filled with so many untruths and smoking
Speaker 6: mirrors that you're constantly already seeking get and kind of
Speaker 6: trying to get through the untruths and lies is tiresome.
Speaker 1: Well, can you spot it quickly? Because you guys are
Speaker 1: so truthful.
Speaker 6: I feel like I've gotten a lot better at it
Speaker 6: that sometimes somebody will say something, I'm like, now, that's
Speaker 6: that's not true. Depending on who it could be, Regina
Speaker 6: and you know, someone else that I trust.
Speaker 4: Now you know that's not true. That did not happen,
Speaker 4: and that's not going to happen.
Speaker 3: Regina, you have your hand and footprint on the Hollywood
Speaker 3: Walk of Fame.
Speaker 1: Your sister was there with you that day.
Speaker 3: Why was it so special to have your hand and
Speaker 3: footprint on Hollywood Boulevard?
Speaker 5: For me?
Speaker 7: You know, I could put my put my hands and
Speaker 7: my foot in it. It is a part of me,
Speaker 7: my DNA up in that sement, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: And those get walked on a lot less also love it.
Speaker 8: It's your literal fingerprint on Hollywood and on this city
Speaker 8: that you were born and raised in Dad born and
Speaker 8: bred and yeah, yes, and I'm an Angelino too, and
Speaker 8: there's not many of us.
Speaker 5: So you get it. You get it. I do.
Speaker 2: I love this city with all of my heart, all
Speaker 2: of my heart. And then I also think about all
Speaker 2: the people who can then come in after you and
Speaker 2: put their hands in those spots.
Speaker 5: So it's like we're having a handshake or a hug.
Speaker 2: Yes, I want to hear how you two have grown
Speaker 2: as sisters over the past seven years that you've been
Speaker 2: working together. I mean, I imagine you're both on your
Speaker 2: own growth journeys, but you're also growing together too.
Speaker 5: M wow.
Speaker 7: From my part is recognizing out of feeling our relationship
Speaker 7: shift from big sister, little sister to damn you pretty dope.
Speaker 7: And it's been like that for years, but it takes
Speaker 7: on different versions since Royal Ties has been in the
Speaker 7: place of actively producing things and not trying to get
Speaker 7: something produced. To see how we're equals is been when
Speaker 7: we joke around and stuff. I can run the little
Speaker 7: sister jokes, but not anymore.
Speaker 5: I can't. I can't. I was going to say, yet,
Speaker 5: we're still there. It's in there, it's it's still that
Speaker 5: part has.
Speaker 1: Not do they come up on said.
Speaker 4: They come up anywhere and everywhere.
Speaker 5: There's no there.
Speaker 4: There's not a safe space.
Speaker 2: Lady, Okay, I think that's a perfect spot to take
Speaker 2: a quick break.
Speaker 3: When we come back, we'll hear from Regina and Reina
Speaker 3: on all the things that get better with age. We're
Speaker 3: back with Raina and Regina King. I want to talk
Speaker 3: about your new series of Man in Full because Jeff Daniels,
Speaker 3: Diane Lane, it's a stacked cast. Why did you want
Speaker 3: to be a part of telling this particular story.
Speaker 7: Well, it's so far away from what anyone would think,
Speaker 7: you know, Regina and Rayna would go out and produce
Speaker 7: a story of Tom wolf adaptation that Charlie Croker that
Speaker 7: we did is much different because I would say that
Speaker 7: the Charlie Croker and Tom Wolfe's book was more than
Speaker 7: racial racist adjacent, So that spin on it is different.
Speaker 5: But no one would ever think that we would.
Speaker 7: Be producing, directing something like that, or to even like
Speaker 7: something like that. But we are freaking the huge fans
Speaker 7: of Dallas what jr. Ewing, You know, those type of
Speaker 7: stories we grew up on and we love them. So
Speaker 7: it was the perfect fit in a lot of ways
Speaker 7: because it spoke.
Speaker 5: To us being able to tell the.
Speaker 7: Story that has that big space of those dynasty stories
Speaker 7: that we grew up on loving.
Speaker 5: And then David Kelly.
Speaker 6: She had me and David Kelly. It was literally She's
Speaker 6: like rain A, David shout to me, and so David Kelly,
Speaker 6: I mean, come.
Speaker 5: On, he does courtroom really well.
Speaker 4: He does courtroom really well.
Speaker 6: You know, I have to say that, as Regina said,
Speaker 6: you know, with this Tom wif book that took place
Speaker 6: in the nineties and Tom was writing, you kind of
Speaker 6: knew you were going to be in good hands with
Speaker 6: David kind of you know, it's a large, dense book,
Speaker 6: you know, and these are six episodes, but playing a
Speaker 6: nice balance of what was put forward in the book
Speaker 6: in treating it, you know, delicately but still in your face,
Speaker 6: the absurdity of it and things that you can relate
Speaker 6: to even if you've seen it outside of what your
Speaker 6: social economic scope may be.
Speaker 7: One of the things, you know, that's so hard when
Speaker 7: you're trying to adapt something that's, like rain I said,
Speaker 7: in a thousand page book into six episodes. But that
Speaker 7: thing that fascinated us most about the book, and we
Speaker 7: think that David even fine tuned it even more, is
Speaker 7: that when you most of us can't relate to people
Speaker 7: who have money on that level or who deal in
Speaker 7: that type of fiscal space. But whether if you have
Speaker 7: two hundred dollars and someone the bank tells you now
Speaker 7: you have twenty cents, and you have eight hundred million
Speaker 7: dollars and now they tell you you have twenty cents,
Speaker 7: you immediately level the playing field quickly as far as
Speaker 7: relating to going from what you had to having nothing.
Speaker 7: And how do we take something that is so unrelatable
Speaker 7: that lifestyle for most people and make it so those
Speaker 7: people who never will experience that lifestyle can lean in,
Speaker 7: can find commonality. And being broke is not feeling good?
Speaker 7: Is I think common for every every person that is
Speaker 7: or has been broke.
Speaker 2: Speak for yourself, Regina. I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2: I've never I can't relate. I don't know what you're saying. Regina.
Speaker 2: You've directed episodes of Insecure, this is a scandal, shameless animal,
Speaker 2: I mean, the list goes on, and now a man
Speaker 2: in full I'm curious how directing feels in your body.
Speaker 2: Do you if you still get nerves whenever you show
Speaker 2: up to set. Do you have more nerves when you
Speaker 2: show up to day one on set as someone like Shirley,
Speaker 2: like as an actor or as a director.
Speaker 5: As a director? Really why?
Speaker 7: Yeah, Well, because Shirley's kind of like Beyonce, you know
Speaker 7: what I mean, Like nobody else is in a category
Speaker 7: with Beyonce.
Speaker 5: Beyonce is like kind of on our own strategy or
Speaker 5: But as.
Speaker 7: A director, the responsibility is so much bigger it is
Speaker 7: for an actor.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there is that.
Speaker 7: It's time consuming and the preparation in the beginning, but
Speaker 7: you're only preparing for that character.
Speaker 5: And you are remaining open to how.
Speaker 7: Your character within that story is going to come together,
Speaker 7: and you're leaning on your scene partners at that point
Speaker 7: with all of that.
Speaker 5: But as a director, it's all of.
Speaker 7: It, all of these intentions and motivations and stories that
Speaker 7: this character wants to tell. What does the space that
Speaker 7: they're going to tell it in look like?
Speaker 5: Yeah? Then you know.
Speaker 6: I mean it's just so in every department that helps
Speaker 6: make that happen.
Speaker 7: Yes, yeah, you know, so many layers, so yeah, big nerves.
Speaker 7: I come to set way earlier as a director than
Speaker 7: I do as an actor, but I don't have to
Speaker 7: go into the hair and makeup.
Speaker 3: Now, that's how you feel about Podcasting's funny.
Speaker 7: That's how if I go to makeup trailers because I'm
Speaker 7: going to say, all right.
Speaker 5: Everybody, we're going to have a great day to day.
Speaker 2: You know? Is that what you do to hide people
Speaker 2: up on set? Do you have a ritual where you
Speaker 2: HiPE people up?
Speaker 5: It's a situational right.
Speaker 7: It depends on the cast, It depends on the crew.
Speaker 5: I remember, it's so strange.
Speaker 7: I was directing an episode of The Good Doctor and
Speaker 7: at the.
Speaker 5: End of those.
Speaker 7: Some of those days when we rap, I would play
Speaker 7: a song, you know, and then it kind of like
Speaker 7: turned into someone would come and say, can we play
Speaker 7: such and such at the end, you know, when we
Speaker 7: were and it was kind of fun, and I have
Speaker 7: not done that since then.
Speaker 3: Well, speaking of film, you started a movie with our
Speaker 3: executive producer, Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde two. What do you
Speaker 3: remember about working with Reese?
Speaker 7: You know, it's so funny about that, and it's interesting.
Speaker 5: What I remember the most is that she.
Speaker 7: Was pregnant and she didn't know it for a small
Speaker 7: amount of it. And I feel like, not long after
Speaker 7: she knew, I knew, I felt and I.
Speaker 5: Felt close enough to ask her at the end.
Speaker 7: And so I remember that just that whole time, from
Speaker 7: when I first clocked that I thought she was pregnant
Speaker 7: to asking her and just watching her so gracefully through
Speaker 7: her being an executive producer and the star and you know,
Speaker 7: a home because you're a mother, you're a home before
Speaker 7: you give birth, and she was so graceful.
Speaker 5: And whenever I'm.
Speaker 7: Asked about Legally Blond two, that is always the first
Speaker 7: thought that comes up. But I never have the space
Speaker 7: to actually say that, so I usually say something about,
Speaker 7: you know, are our love for Sally Field?
Speaker 3: Oh, we love important, but that's a really special thing
Speaker 3: to share.
Speaker 1: Thank you for giving us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we love that story. I have one more
Speaker 2: about that time period in Hollywood. We just did this
Speaker 2: story on the show talking about chemistry tests from back
Speaker 2: in the day, from like the nineties, right because Anne
Speaker 2: Hathaway came out and she told the story about how
Speaker 2: studio heads casting directors they would put her through this
Speaker 2: chemistry test with like ten different actors where she would
Speaker 2: have to make out with all of them, and I
Speaker 2: just thought that that was so crazy and things have
Speaker 2: changed so much in this post me to era.
Speaker 5: Ray Aina's eyes.
Speaker 2: Raina's eyes are saying everything right now, but did you
Speaker 2: did either of you have ever experience anything like that?
Speaker 2: Or what are some of the other shocking things that
Speaker 2: happened in the business back then that would never fly today.
Speaker 6: Well, I can definitely say I by the time I
Speaker 6: stopped acting and was focusing on high school, I was
Speaker 6: too young for that to have happened.
Speaker 4: For me personally, that was not happening.
Speaker 6: And even if I was eighteen nineteen, that would not
Speaker 6: have happened either. Now I will say that if there
Speaker 6: was you know, in that chemistry read, if there was
Speaker 6: like one male actor that I'm going to seal the deal,
Speaker 6: then that one person might have gotten that kiss, but
Speaker 6: I would have been kissing on the cheek, on the neck,
Speaker 6: and everywhere else that wouldn't have.
Speaker 5: What does big Sis say about this?
Speaker 7: I definitely never experienced it personally. I definitely had peers
Speaker 7: that were auditioning and having to in my opinion.
Speaker 5: Wear clothes or be way.
Speaker 7: More intimate than what I thought they should be doing.
Speaker 7: But the thing that I did experience as an actor,
Speaker 7: and thankfully having such awesome agents who are still my
Speaker 7: agents to this day, experiencing roles that were written as
Speaker 7: white just because white people were writing them, and that
Speaker 7: character could be any color. And so my agents really
Speaker 7: pushing in some spaces where a role was written for
Speaker 7: white but like, no, you should see Regina, No, Regina
Speaker 7: should go in with this.
Speaker 5: And then to bring it back to Reese Leally Blontu.
Speaker 7: That was Reese as a producer and that producing team
Speaker 7: that saw and understood that the best actor for.
Speaker 5: The role should play that that part.
Speaker 7: And so Grace happened to be black, and I think
Speaker 7: that that is still part of the culture where it
Speaker 7: shifted to not being written or the character description not
Speaker 7: being written as white or black. God forbid you're Latino
Speaker 7: or Asian. That's the percentage. It is even lower as
Speaker 7: far as the possibility. But now I feel like, or
Speaker 7: at least six or seven years ago, you were hearing
Speaker 7: racially ambiguous is the which meant not white but not
Speaker 7: necessarily black.
Speaker 5: Yeah, what does that mean exactly?
Speaker 7: Does that mean we want you to look like mixed dish,
Speaker 7: you know, or she can be whatever.
Speaker 5: You don't really see.
Speaker 7: That so much with the male character descriptions.
Speaker 1: So the king Sisters hold a lot of wisdom.
Speaker 5: Regina.
Speaker 3: You told Vogue UK a few years ago, I feel
Speaker 3: like I'm so much more interesting now than I was
Speaker 3: at twenty five. Who I loved, you said, you bring
Speaker 3: so much more to the table. So we talk about
Speaker 3: aging on this show a lot, because the messages we
Speaker 3: get make us feel like women expire, and then we
Speaker 3: talk to women in real life and it's the exact opposite.
Speaker 3: So can you share with us one or two things
Speaker 3: that you feel like has just gotten better?
Speaker 5: Sex more? But no, seriously, I mean, you know, I.
Speaker 7: Recognize that having a partner that really well one loves
Speaker 7: you but wants to please you, and being patient enough
Speaker 7: to receive that. I feel like just when I was younger,
Speaker 7: I wouldn't wouldn't have even allowed myself to slow down
Speaker 7: enough to recognize that the reason I'm not coming is because.
Speaker 5: It's fun in the beginning, a little bit of for
Speaker 5: a player or whatever. But then then you know, yeah.
Speaker 6: But not when they boring exactly that, not when they're
Speaker 6: not boring.
Speaker 5: In some ways.
Speaker 7: But it's because I was not allowing myself to be
Speaker 7: more in tune with myself to receive what should and
Speaker 7: could be received, because I was not allowing myself to
Speaker 7: be a good picker.
Speaker 3: I really I have to tell you. I love that
Speaker 3: you said that. I think a lot of women relate
Speaker 3: to that, and we don't talk about it all the time.
Speaker 2: Talk about it, talk about it for that, talk about it, Reina,
Speaker 2: let's got better.
Speaker 5: How are you going to top that one, RAINA, I don't. Yeah.
Speaker 6: I think I may have been a little bit ahead
Speaker 6: of my time on the sex one. So that was
Speaker 6: the issue, I would say, because I do truly feel
Speaker 6: the getting older is truly better. You know, I literally
Speaker 6: have friends that either won't tell you the A and
Speaker 6: I tell them They're like, I don't want to grow up,
Speaker 6: and I like that I'm growing up and have grown up.
Speaker 6: And I would say, just understanding what I want mm hm,
Speaker 6: where I am in my life and while I'm setting
Speaker 6: goals not to have to expect so much from myself,
Speaker 6: knowing how to balance my own personal pressures that I
Speaker 6: think we put on ourselves as working women, working mothers.
Speaker 4: Just existing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, you brought me into my next question
Speaker 3: that was perfect.
Speaker 1: What's bringing you joy right now?
Speaker 6: I feel like, you know, sometimes people say, you know,
Speaker 6: take the wave, you know, and.
Speaker 4: Ride the wave.
Speaker 6: I feel like our waves or waves are going to
Speaker 6: keep on coming and be ties that are going to
Speaker 6: get bigger. And even though I have these moments, I'm like,
Speaker 6: I'm so tired.
Speaker 5: I could not be working. I'm enjoying working.
Speaker 4: I'm enjoying my career. I like my relationship I'm in.
Speaker 6: We don't live together, Katherine Hepburn said, men and women
Speaker 6: shouldn't live together, they should be neighbors and visit now
Speaker 6: and then. So I'm just feel good in the place
Speaker 6: that I'm in and the space that I'm in.
Speaker 1: I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Regina.
Speaker 1: What's bringing you joy?
Speaker 7: You know that's a complicated question for me, so I
Speaker 7: can only speak to it in.
Speaker 5: A moment by moment face.
Speaker 7: So right now, having this interview with my sister and
Speaker 7: meeting to lovely women that seem genuinely interested in hearing
Speaker 7: from us and not having to wear makeup while doing
Speaker 7: it bringing me lots of.
Speaker 6: I will say, as podcasts go for the ones when
Speaker 6: you can actually see people, I don't.
Speaker 4: No one can see us. These two ladies look pretty good.
Speaker 5: And they don't have one a bunch of makeup.
Speaker 4: Maybe maybe their.
Speaker 8: Eyebrows maybe you know, maybe filled it in with little
Speaker 8: Mabeline as they shift.
Speaker 7: But these are just some natural beauty faces going on
Speaker 7: right here.
Speaker 2: Thank you both for your honesty and just keeping it
Speaker 2: real with us.
Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 5: And keep killing it. It's a hard marketplace out there,
Speaker 5: and Royaltize is killing it.
Speaker 2: We're going to try, but y'all are taking big swings
Speaker 2: and that's really brave and that's really courageous. And you
Speaker 2: can just tell that you lead with purpose and everything
Speaker 2: that you do. So I think if you do that,
Speaker 2: I mean, what more can you ask for?
Speaker 1: I love that get together.
Speaker 5: Well until we speak again, lady, Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Regina and Raina King are executive producers of the new
Speaker 2: Netflix series A Man in Full I'm the Netflix film.
Speaker 2: Surely both are available to stream right now.
Speaker 3: That's it for today's show. Tomorrow, we have doctor Elizabeth Coleman.
Speaker 3: She's a medical historian walking us through sexism in medicine
Speaker 3: and how the future is changing for women. Listen and
Speaker 3: follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 3: or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 5: I'm Simone Voice.
Speaker 2: You can find me at simone Voice on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 3: I'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1: That's ro Bay. We'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 3: Keep looking on the bright side.