From Jerry Maguire to Daddy Day Care, Regina King has played the eternally patient wife/mother role a heck of a lot. But in her latest film, Ray, the 33-year-old actress finally gets the chance to take a walk on the wild side.
King plays Margie Hendricks, a backup singer for Ray Charles (played by Jamie Foxx) who also happened to be Charles' longtime mistress. Jealous, catty and conniving, Margie is light-years away from the parts King normally plays. "When I auditioned, they thought I was reading for Della [Charles' wife]. And I'm like, 'Do I have to read for Della?' They said, 'No, who do you want to read?' and I told them, 'Margie, of course!'"
"Don't get me wrong," King says. "I would not change my résumé for anything. But to have the opportunity not to play the wife was terrific. Every day I was looking forward to going to work just to be the bad girl."
King will cont
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