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June 8 - June 15,2003 |
Regina King for a Day...Care
Former television child star holds her own against heavy-weight comedian Eddie Murphy
By Angela Baldassarre
Originally Published: 2003-05-25
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Eddie Murphy and Regina King
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It must be unnerving growing up under the eyes of America, especially when most child actors turn out to be outcasts as adults. "Not me," says Regina King online from Los Angeles. "I can't talk about the others, but I come from a very grounded and loving family, and I was never treated any differently by friends in school."
And she should know about the precariousness of being a teenager in Hollywood. Her acting coach for over a decade was Betty A. Bridges, mother of actor Todd Bridges who is one of the downtrodden from Different Strokes.
Thanks to Bridges, 13-year-old King landed a role as Vanessa's nameless friend on The Cosby Show. But it was her friendship with Marla Gibbs with whom King worked in the Los Angeles-based Crossroads Theatre Company that got her the part of a lifetime: Brenda Jenkins, the teenaged daughter of Gibbs' character on the NBC sitcom 227, which aired from 1985 to 1990.
Nearly 20 years later King has starred in over a dozen films opposite many African-American heavyweights, including this month's Eddie Murphy starrer, Daddy Day Care.
Directed by Steve Carr (Dr. Dolittle 2), the movie centers on buddies Charlie (Murphy) and Phil (Jeff Garlin) who are so caught up in their high-profile jobs, they find themselves at a loss when they're sacked. Unable to find work, the pals decide to open up a daycare in order to care for their own children who can't afford to remain in private school.
"When I got on the set, I thought they might want to get some pointers from me," says King, the of mother a six-year-old boy, about her male co-stars. "But they're all married, they've all got kids. They know how to handle kids better than any woman I know."
But would she trust them with her child in a daycare? "Yeah, I guess," she laughs. "I don't know if in real life they could run a daycare. You have to understand that guys relate to kids differently than women. I'm sure the kids would have more fun with the guys. It would certainly be a different kind of daycare."
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