I cannot even be objective right now. I love Regina Hall. I’ve thought she was talented since she portrayed “Candy” on The Best Man and after watching her in a string of box office hits and some pretty hilarious interviews with Kevin Hart in promotion for their film About Last Night, I thought ‘Oh, Regina seems cool…and funny as all get out.’ So naturally, when MadameNoire was offered the opportunity to speak to her, I jumped at it, hoping she’d be as nice and personable chatting as she seemed to be. She definitely was, or is. I left the conversation confirming all those assumptions but also adding intelligent and inspirational to the list. She’s a joy, really. Check out Regina’s thoughts on everything from how her father’s passing made her pursue acting, liberated roles for women of color, becoming an ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds fragrance and how she learned to abandon the expectation she had of being married with children at the age of 43 and learning to appreciate life’s journey.
MN: You were actually a journalism major before you got into acting. You said that your father’s passing made you change career paths. When did you know acting was going to be it and why did you make that decision.
Regina Hall: A friend, she’s an actress, introduced me to her manager and I was doing commercials and I actually really did like it. I had taken acting classes, probably like a lot of people, in school. And I think what happened was when my father died– I don’t know I never had experienced someone dying–especially someone close to me. It just made me think of the brevity of life. And I thought about what I remembered being fun and scary. And that’s how I decided. I was always interested in it. It just didn’t necessarily feel like a feasible profession. It still doesn’t and I do it. But at that point I thought it was worth the risk.
It feels like it’s definitely paid off. Tell us how you got from that first role in The Best Man in 1999 to now. It seems like you’re in a movie every other month.
I have a wonderful agent, a wonderful manager. We did The Best Man and then my second film was Love and Basketball and then Scary Movie. And I think with Scary Movie it opened up the avenue for comedy and that allowed me to do roles with a lot of comedians and kind of make a name in that arena. That kept me working steadily. Thankfully, a lot of the movies that I did were successful. Best Man has a sequel. No one expected that. Scary Movie had sequels and Think Like A Man has a sequel. So they’re a lot of movies that have had a lot of longevity. Cable always helps for people to get familiar with you. I think the biggest thing we realized was how important it was to be consistent and to always work on your craftsmanship.
Joan in the movie About Last Night was out there. She did a lot of things. And you said it was important for you as a woman of color to play that role. Do you think black audiences are ready for black female characters who are free and liberated and do what they want without the morality police behind them?
I think women in general are more open. And I think men are. I think studio executives are. It was so great to see that on paper. And the role wasn’t written black. They were actually going to remake the original with an all white cast. I loved that she got to be really, really sexy and unapologetic and kicking up ruckus. And yet there were parts of her that were familiar to all women. I didn’t have anyone saying, ‘Oh, no don’t do that.’ And I felt like she still was a positive representation for women of all colors but black women as well. I felt like she was a spicy woman but she was educated. She was professional. It’s interesting because as provocative as Joan was she really only slept with one man…a bunch of times, but even her promiscuity was unapologetic. I think she was spicy and I loved the opportunity to play that, especially after having played Candace in Think Like A Man, who was a mother and a good mother and a great woman. I think all of those types of women exist and sometimes within all of us. We each get a range, maybe not that extreme but various spectrums of that.
We’ve heard that there’s going to be a Best Man 3. What do you think is going to happen with that?
I really don’t know. Honestly, the great thing about sequels is getting to get together with your cast again. Working on a film, you never get to have that familial unit you do when you’re shooting.
I think he’ll [Director Malcolm Lee] will keep it on a lighter note.
We sit around as a cast and ask what do you think will happen in the next one. Malcolm is being tight lipped. And of course he doesn’t want to hear any of our suggestions. We’re like ‘Malcolm do you think I should be…’ And he’s like I don’t even want to talk to you right now. We’re like ‘Okay.’ It’s kind of exciting to see what it will be.
Recently, you signed on to be an ambassador for Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds. Why did you feel like this was a good fit?
I love Elizabeth Taylor. The reason I always was such a fan, I read her New York Times Best seller. She was one of the people who I felt equally possessed the same amount of talent as she did beauty. Her work that she did throughout her entire career–I watched her on “General Hospital” what I always loved her was that she was elegant. Whenever I do red carpet looks one of the things that I like is to always make sure that there’s a sense of elegance and class. And I felt like she always exuded that. White Diamonds Lustre is the new scent that they have. And I love the fragrance that’s the first thing. But I felt like it was kind of representative of who she was. Just because i see her as such an icon, working with her team seemed natural to me. You have to get behind something that is actually kind of true to who you are, true to what you want to say that makes the same statement that you feel like resonates with who you are. And I feel like Elizabeth Taylor has always been that. Of course I wish I had as many diamonds as she does…but I’ll have to settle for the perfume for now.
You said on Conan that you’re working on embracing your feminine side. Did that have anything to do with this partnership?
It does. You know I think a fragrance… It’s funny, I had never–through my teen years and in college I just would spray on something someone else had. But when you have a fragrance that’s feminine and glamorous… what I think I like about it is that it feels polished. It makes me feel a lot more feminine. It’s amazing the nuances of who you are, are encapsulated in a scent. But it’s important that it be something that you actually like. And so I don’t know I spray it on and it feels interesting to see men respond too. Not just women because women love it but men respond and they go ‘What are you wearing?’ What I think is amazing is that I dab it on when I’m not looking red carpet but I know that at least I smell it. So it’s great.
In an interview you did with Modern Dog, you explained how your dog Zeus helped you embrace your life as it is now. You said that you saw yourself being married with kids by now. Women are always getting these questions like ‘How are you still single?‘ ‘Why are you still single?’ How did you come to embrace your life not being as you pictured it?
I know that in our culture and in a lot of cultures there exists that as an ideal that a woman should be married. That is the period of exclamation point upon the sentence of her life. And for many women that may be true. But what I find is that I ask myself most importantly ‘Am I happy?’ and I feel like I’m so happy. My life is so rich in so many ways with friends and love and purpose. And it’s not even that I have to focus on that. i just know that. I think when you really settle into your own journey as opposed to the thought process of where you thought you would be or thought you should be or the people around you. And when you stay true really to where you are, knowing that you are really on your own journey and life’s purpose. And that it’s wonderful! I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. But that doesn’t mean that I think marriage wouldn’t be great. It just means that in this particular moment this is what life has been generous enough to offer and so I say yes to it. And I enjoy what I have as opposed to focusing on what, culturally, on what you think you should have.
And I think women collectively are at an amazing place in time. They are so smart, so evolved, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and if we really embrace that, you know I’m on the phone doing an amazing interview with a woman. And wearing a fragrance that was created by an amazing woman. I had press today and the two representatives I worked with, they were women. That’s an amazing feeling to look and see that. And it doesn’t matter to me whether they’re married or not. I feel their joy and I hope that’s what people feel from me.
If God so provides a husband, that’s amazing too. I don’t think one is less or better we just each have our different roles in life.
