The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Regina King on Making Television More Diverse

Episode Date: March 5, 2019

Academy Award-winning actress Regina King discusses her role on the Netflix series "Seven Seconds" as well as the availability of television roles for people of color. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey guys, this is Tom Segura. And I'm Bert Kreischer. And you're listening to Two Bears One Cave, or you should be listening to Two Bears One Cave. We are on Spotify. On Spotify. And we are not smart.

That's an understatement. But you'll have a lot of fun, hopefully. I think you might enjoy it if you give us your perfect blood work back from your doctor and you have full permission to tie one on, make sure you check out Two Bears One Cave. It's with me, Tom Seger and my co-host, Bert Chrysler, the Machine. My shirt's off. Please welcome Regina King. So good to have you. It's so good to be back. This is, wow, I, can I tell you, seven seconds is one of those shows that you, you know, like Netflix will catch you sometimes because you just watch a show, then it goes like,

recommend, recommend, and I saw seven seconds and I saw your face and I started watching the show and I was not ready for how intense and amazing the show is. Yeah it's pretty intense. It really like just if you give us a light breakdown of what the story is and where it goes. Yes it is about a a family who their son has been hit by a police officer, a drive-by, if you will, but literally the car hits him and he's left to die and they try to cover it up. And it's my character in particular just knows that something is not right about it. And as you follow her, it's her trying to get justice for her son. And you have to watch it if you haven't to see what happens.

But it definitely is telling a story about things that are going on right now. I mean, it's interesting that you, you know, which I loved the, I don't know his name, but the strong safety from the Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, Malcolm Jenkins. Yes. you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and you, you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, and you have, you, and you know, you know, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you have, you, you, you, you, you, you, th. And, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have to have, you havethe Philadelphia Eagles. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, Yeah, yeah, and you know what you know what's powerful about the story is that it It really captures the human element of a very difficult story to tell because in the story I will only spoil the beginning of the first episode for you and that is that the police officer makes a mistake Yeah, he makes a mistake and it's a story of the the the the the the the the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the story of the the the the the story the story of the the story the story the story the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thoooea.oo. Ic. Ic. I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm? I'm te. I'm te. I'm te. I'm the. I'm the the the the the the the the officer makes a mistake. He makes a mistake, and it's a story of how the cover-up really does make what happened worse, because he made a mistake,

and because his officers are involved in something shady, they're afraid of how this will look, and so they cover it up and it becomes worse, and you have these families embroiled. Everyone has stories, everyone has secrets. And that really makes it worse. How do you think the success of the show was defined by the humanity of every single one of the characters? Because the first thing is the fact

that Venusud, who's the creator, she, instead of making it be a child that was shot by a police officer. It was a child that was hit by a police officer and then this story of a cover-up. So that's where I think the humanity comes in and the choices that we make and us being a product of our choices. Right. And that's what I guess made, allowed people to see it from a more human perspective, you know. And that that really is, I think what makes seven seconds or successful That combined with the amazing acting you're phenomenal in it. Thank you

I know the Emmys are coming up and honestly it like you have won two Emmys. I see a third in your future. It is genuinely phenomenal acting Over over time, you know as an actor in Hollywood you've slowly seen a shift in how actors of color have been recognized for their work you know all too often I've heard people say like oh Regina King she's really come out of nowhere and and you just like especially for black people you're like from nowhere but you mean our lives what do you mean nowhere it doesn't feel like feel like that change is finally gaining traction you know do you

feel like there's a shift in the right direction? Sure and I think that to ha ha ha I think television it's interesting yeah I think television has been responsible for a bit of a I mean just the fact that I'm sitting here with you and how you are the one that the baton was the the the the the the the the the the baton the baton the baton was the baton was the baton was the baton was the the the baton was the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the their. their. their. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the fact that I'm sitting here with you and how you were the one that the baton was passed to. Right, right. I hear you say. that there has been this shift in TV and and creators in television are having opportunities to tell stories that mirror what's going on in life. So I say sure because I think we've

got a long way to go. Definitely. No definitely and I think a lot of that long way will be, I really think inspired by the fact that people of color are now gaining equity because somebody like yourself is a really well-known actor who has killed the game for a long time. You've been amazing. And now we see you directing, we see you producing. You directed your very first pilot. Yes. Which is, I mean, congratulations on that. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. But you also directed shows like, this is us. You've been out there. Was it ever a choice that was put in front of you? Was that ever a choice that was put in thoooooooooooooooo, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, the the the the tho, the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, th, the the th, th, th, th, th, th, th..... thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, throoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. thi, thi, say to, hey, Regina, do you want to direct or do you want to act? Was that ever a choice that was put in front of you? No, that was not a choice that was put in front of me. That was a desire and some examples that were before me. You know, Marla Gibbs was a huge example, and I think a lot of people, she doesn't get the credit that she deserves because she was one th..... And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was, th. And, th. And, was, was, was, was, was, was th. And, was thi. And, was thi. And, was thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that was, was, was, was, that was, that was, was, that was, was, was, was thi. thi. that she deserves because she was one of the first that was producing and starring

and sold her own show. You know, 227 was a show, was a stage play that she took to NBC and sold it. So I got to have a front row seat to see a woman do that. And so I kind of feel like it was in me to desire to have more ownership and more of a presence than just an actor. Although I love acting, I will never stop doing it, but I know that there's ways that I can bring opportunities to tell our stories even more and in a more present way. Do you ever feel that it's hard?

Because honestly, I cannot stress enough how talented you are as an actor. I mean, everything from the bundocks. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I thi, I thi, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I th th th th th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th th, I th th th th th tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I tho, I thin, I that, I that, I that, that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th because honestly I cannot stress enough how talented you are as an actor. I mean everything from the boondocks through to seven seconds. You're phenomenal. So is there ever a moment where you're like, just do it. So is there ever a moment where you're directing somebody and then you're just like, just do it? Is that ever a feeling that you have or do you completely separate yourself and the th? I I I I, th................. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the th.......................................................................................................................... it! Do it the way I would do. You know what, roll on me, roll on me. Is that ever a feeling that you have, or do you completely separate yourself and change

your role? Yes, I really try, I have had some really great mentors as directors and it's really important to not, because I know what I don't want a director to give me a line read or you know tell me that say it like this. I don't want that so I really am conscious of that but I will say there are times that I am behind the camera and the actors are just so amazing and they're so great and I want to jump in there and be in the scene and act with them. So I do have those moments. I'm excited to see what you're. the. the the the. the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin. th. I thin. I th. I the is thi thi their thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thin. I really really really really really really really really really really thin. I the. I the. I the. I theeee. I theeeeeeeeeeeeee the thee theee thi. I really really really thi. I really really thi thi thi. I'm excited to see what you're going to be doing next. Seven Seconds is an amazing, amazing story that you're telling. Good luck for the Emmys that are coming up. Thank you for being on the show with us again. Seven Seconds is available on Netflix.

Please, trust me. You want to watch it? Regina King, everybody. The Daily Show with Cover Noa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. Have you ever been watching the news and thought to yourself, wow, the Supreme Court sure

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or you should be listening to Two Bears One Cave. We are on Spotify. On Spotify. And we are not smart. That's an understatement. But you'll have a lot of fun, hopefully. I think you might enjoy it if you'll the perfect blood work back from your doctor and you have full permission to tie one on, make sure you check out Two Bears One Cave. It's with me, Tom Stegora and my co-hosts.

Bert Chrysler. The Machine. My shirt's off.