Oscar nominee Regina King to run for president?

SO, REGINA KING walked into a 99-cent store. And what’d she get? A prophecy on her life. No joke. King was shopping around - “sometimes people will say, ‘You at the 99-cent store?’ I like a bargain too” - when a woman walked up to her with something of a prediction.

“She said, ‘You don’t know it but you’re going to run for president.’ And I was like, ‘President of a company?’ She was like, ‘No... of the United States,’” King recalled, adding that she thought the woman was a clairvoyant. “She said, ‘Close your eyes. You are. I see it,’” King continued. “I was like, ‘Girl, I appreciate that but no - that’s not happening. I like my life too much. I like my family too much. I like my friends too much.”

The idea of King, 48, running for presidency isn’t too far-fetched. Rather, it’s not a stretch for people to jokingly ask her to. The seasoned actress is one of the most likable and genial celebrities in the industry, and one fans and peers are constantly rooting for.

King has picked up two more Emmys since - earning acclaim and praise for her riveting roles in John Ridley’s anthology American Crime and Netflix’s Seven Seconds, where King stunned on-screen as the mother of a son killed by police.

Academy award honour

Now King is hitting new heights with her first big screen role since 2010: Her portrayal of a devoted mother in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk already won her honours at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards. She’s up for best supporting actress at the Academy Awards. “(Regina) has been stalwart in this industry for so long. For a long time, she was doing the work to do the work and I think the industry sort of catches up to wonderful artists like Regina. She shows up and does the work, whether it be in front or behind the camera, and the industry is taking notice,” said Colman Domingo, who plays King’s husband in Beale Street.

“I think it’s not only an Oscar nomination for If Beale Street Could Talk,

I think it’s also for her body of work.”

King called the nomination “extra-special” since it’s her first; the film is also competing for best adapted screenplay and best original score at the Oscars tonight.

No matter the screen, King always comes through. She’s known for digging deep into her roles, giving a dramatic, stirring performance that leaves audiences wanting more. “I’m doing my research. I’m talking to real life people who’ve had these horrific experiences,” King said.

One of the real people was Marion Gray-hopkins, whose son was killed by police officers. King spoke extensively with Gray-hopkins as she prepped for Seven

Seconds, which also earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

While King is usually able to leave the drama on the set, she said it was hard to escape the madness of the TV series.

“I called my son so much

(for) just like random things. He couldn’t watch all of Seven Seconds.

He saw the first episode, and he tried to watch the second. He was like, ‘I can’t.’ He said, ‘It feels like that’s me,’” King said. “And he was like, ‘Now I get why you were calling me with just like weird stuff, like, ‘Did you remember to put the clothes in the dryer? I’m like, yeah mom. I put the cleaning towels in the dryer. Did you feed the dog?’ I just wanted to hear his voice.”

King’s son, Ian Alexander

Jr., will be by her side at the Academy Awards today to cheer her on - just like so many others.

When you make the choice to be in the public’s eye, you are letting go of anonymity. You’re letting go of some things that you want to hold dear and protect. For a president, that’s on level 9 million.”

Regina King