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Regina King Tackles New Role, Breaks Hollywood Barriers
Actress Regina King is in the new holiday film, This Christmas, in which she plays a character who chooses to ignore her personal goals for the sake of a seemingly picture-perfect family.
King was first introduced to mainstream audiences through her role as Brenda Jenkins in the 1980s NBC sitcom "227." Determined not to be typecast, the popular actress' work is known to a wide variety of audiences. She's been a supporting actress in two films for which her on-screen beaus have won Academy Awards — Cuba Gooding, Jr., for Jerry Maguire and Jamie Foxx for Ray. Her voice can also be heard in the animated series "The Boondocks," the brainchild of cartoonist Aaron McGruder.
In addition to her latest role on the big screen, King is also passionate about a project currently in the works with her production company — a profile of Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to U.S. Congress, who described herself as "unbought and unbossed."
Regina King candidly discusses America's segregated television and movie viewership, the ongoing struggle for actresses of color to find meaningful work in Hollywood and the role of Presidential politics in influencing people's choices for entertainment.
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