Photo: Simone Niamani Thompson for New York Magazine |
Regina Hall has stealthily become one of the defining ensemble actors of Black studio films. She has played both the straight woman and the comic relief in films like The Best Man and Girls Trip. For years, critics treated this as charm rather than craft. Not until she transitioned to prestige turns in Support the Girls, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., Black Monday, and the Oscar-winning One Battle After Another were the very traits that gave her such command of humor properly recognized. “People saw me as a broad comedic actress,” she says, “and so I needed to convince them that you could just do a grounded version of stuff.” Later this month, she reprises her role as the vulgar and lovable Brenda Meeks in the Wayans family’s Scary Movie franchise. “It’s special when you are making a film that you know your audience is going to resonate with,” Hall says. “If you’re making a movie for a demographic that doesn’t get to see themselves as much as they would hope, that’s a gift.”
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Celebrity gossip, industry updates, and beyond. |
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Bridgers’s New York concert banned phones, pens, and paper. It ruled. |
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This one is an indie cartoon — and it already beat He-Man, Scary Movie, and Backrooms on Thursday night. |
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His new album feels like a Beatles prequel — and it’s his best work since the 2000s. |
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Play the latest Cinematrix and crossword. |
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Can you name a Marlon or Shawn Wayans movie released between 2000 and 2015? |
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