Regina
King Buddies Up With Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality 2
By Rebecca Murray Regina
King on Working With Bullock and Playing 'Sam Fuller'
Training for Her Role: “Well, the thing is,
both Sandy and I are total Type A type women, so we gotta
do it ourselves. So there were very few moments — I'm
still trying to think — in the movie where stunt doubles
actually did [the work]. There were just really a few moments
where it was the stunt doubles. Everything was she and I.
So we did the rehearsals together. We would come in early.
We would leave later to do extra rehearsals. So it was just
one of those things where we couldn't help but be competitive,
but at the same time, cheer each other on.”
Working with Sandra Bullock: “We had
so much fun. We had so much fun. I mean, if every movie with
a female partner could be this way, then I want to do plenty
of movies with just women, because we had a ball. We really
did. Every woman has days that aren't, every person has days
that aren't as great as others, and just kind of shepherd
each other through it during those moments. You just kind
of knew when the other wasn't quite up to par physically or
just emotionally. And it was just fine. It was so much fun
to be with a girl who can, like, burp and talk about Halliburton
at the same time.”
The Appeal of a Female Buddy Comedy: “It
was a huge appeal to me. It's also a testament to Sandy and
the fact that she's a hands-on producer. She's not like someone
who just lends her name to a project. Her fight with Warner
Brothers was, ‘Look, I don't want to do a love story
- falling in love with a guy. We carry this thing without
that. We can do a good movie. We can do an entertaining movie.
We can do a funny movie. We can do a movie that had emotional
weight. We can do it without me falling for a guy.’
She fought for that. She fought for that to the end. You know
what I mean?
I just saw the movie yesterday. Of course, I'm in it and I'm
supposed to say great things about it, but I really thought
it was a good movie. I really thought that it wasn't a movie
that was painful for guys to get through. It was a movie that
kids could go see without parents going like, ‘Oh eeech,
when is it over?’ And it's her. She's really the person
with the most dialogue. She is doing everything each step
of the way. She fights for what she really believes in.”
Physical Mishaps on the Set of “Miss Congeniality
2:” “I did okay. I weathered the storm.
I got a twisted ankle but that's about it. [During] the fight
scene at the end in the casino - you remember, he goes and
flips me over and takes off my wig, and then he flips me over?
Well, the wig had to stay in the same place in every take,
even when we progress and pick it up in other places, the
wig has to stay in the same place. We're doing the scene and
I slipped on my wig.”
Fighting Tips from Sandra Bullock: “Well, she told me
after that, ‘Now that you've twisted your ankle, that
ankle's is gonna always be weak.’ Because she said it
happened to her. She twisted her ankle. I don't recall if
it was doing a fighting scene or if it was just in some day
to day activities or just whatever, but she said ever since
she had — having thin ankles - that the ankle just got
kind of weak and kind of susceptible to always breaking right
there at the same point.”
Regina King vs. Sandra Bullock - Who Would Really
Win: "Me. Of course."
Her Character’s Demeanor: “Well,
you know, I think the [high energy thing] worked. I think
that helped add to it. I kind of just decided that, being
a little person, she was like… I remember when I was
a kid, I used to hate being picked up. People always want
to pick the little person up, ‘Oh, you're so cute!!’
I used to hate with like rage. ‘PUT ME DOWN!’
So I kind of decided what if [my character] was like that?
Instead of becoming an actress, she was like kicking everybody's
ass for picking me up? The next person that picks me up, I'll
start kicking her ass. And it just snowballed to this adult
where she's allergic to everything, so she misses out on things.
And then if she's sitting on the sidelines, not able to enjoy
it, somebody comes around and freaking picks her up. She's
kicking her ass. So that's like the background I put into
her.”
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