Regina King Talks Embarking on Her Second Career: Directing

It’s the fourth episode of ABC’s new thriller “The Catch,” the latest entry from Shondaland’s camp, and the director is excitedly recounting the weekend’s (mis)adventures to the assembled crew, regaling them with woes of rain and other production complications.

But no matter. The talent that Regina King brings in front of the camera is just as abundant behind it, which is where she can be most often found of late. The Emmy-winning actress — crowned last September for her work in ABC’s “American Crime” — has launched a parallel second career as a director. Since making her episodic helming debut on “Southland” in 2013, she’s been lining up credits on not only “The Catch” but ABC’s “Scandal,” BET’s “Being Mary Jane” and OWN’s “Greenleaf.”
“It’s an opportunity to be more involved in telling the story,” she says. “Having a little more control — that might have something to do with it.”
The idea of moving behind the camera was born when King was a guest on “The Mo’Nique Show” along with R&B artist Jaheim, who asked her to appear in one of his videos. She agreed — but only if she could direct it, too. When he asked if she’d ever written a treatment before, she bluffed — and pulled it off. Atlantic Records was thrilled with the final result for “Finding Your Way Back.”
Now she’s firmly a part of the Shondaland family.

“The best way to be invited back is to tell a good story visually, and to make sure you honor the tone the creator has established for the entire show.”

Regina King

Director Paris Barclay was impressed enough with King’s visual style to encourage her to enter a broadcast network directing program. “He said it would help people take me more seriously as a director if they know I was actively pursuing learning about it, outside of what I picked up being on set as an actor,” King says. She chose ABC’s training program for one reason: Shonda Rhimes.
“More terrifying to me than directing is sitting in front of a blank piece of paper and finding the inspiration to come up with a story,” King adds. “(Shonda is) just so exceptional at it.”
Indeed, the program gave her the opportunity to shadow directors in Shondaland; she was on the set of “Private Practice” the day the show was canceled. But that led to an introduction to “Scandal” producing director Tom Verica, who has become a mentor. “He saw something in me I didn’t see in myself,” she says. “Shadowing Tom was a crash course in psychology, directing, leadership — so many things all at once. He’s so good at what he does and remains a good person throughout.”
Verica, long a fan of King’s acting, is equally struck by what she brings as a helmer. “It’s quite overwhelming when you suddenly have an entire crew waiting to see what you want to do with a scene,” he says. “And I’ve seen her thrive in that position.”
“One of the biggest gifts we ever got was Regina King walking in the door,” says Betsy Beers, partner at Shondaland. “She’s got excellent taste and ideas. She’s done a tremendous job on the episodes she’s done for us. To have her in the director’s chair for us, nothing could make me happier.”
Her episodic directing debut on “Southland” was in itself a family experience; she was the first cast member to helm the series. “I’ve never watched more people want to see someone succeed than in that moment,” recalls co-star Shawn Hatosy. “She was the perfect leader. Her instincts were spot-on. She didn’t waffle in her decision-making process, and yet she was open to collaboration.” Hatosy, now at work on TNT’s new drama “Animal Kingdom,” hopes to see his former co-star behind the camera there, too.
On the set of “The Catch,” King huddles with stars Mireille Enos and Peter Krause between takes. Her tone is warm, encouraging, supportive. “That’s awesome!” she shouts from behind the bank of screens in video village.