*For over a decade, actress Regina Hall has been charming her way into the hearts of many with her hilariously memorable performances.
She is most known as Brenda Meeks in the first four “Scary Movie” films. Hall’s other significant roles include in “Think Like a Man” and its sequel “Think Like a Man Too,” and last year’s “Vacation.”
Her latest feature is the exciting psychology drama “When the Bough Breaks,” starring Morris Chestnut and featuring newcomer Jaz Sinclair (“Paper Towns”).
“When the Bough Breaks” debuted on digital December 13, and arrives on Blu-ray™ and DVD December 27 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Hall and Chestnut play a couple who are unable to conceive their own child, so they hire a young woman (Sinclair) as their surrogate. As the pregnancy progresses, the surrogate develops a psychotic fixation with the father-to-be that quickly becomes dangerous.
“We had fun getting into character and kinda, going through the psychology space of these characters,” Hall shared with EUR/Electronic Urban Report during a recent phone interview.
“I always like to do different stuff, and I have been,” she said, when asked if she was specifically seeking a dramatic character like Laura.
“You always like to vary what you do as opposed to doing the same thing over and over. It was a great opportunity to do something in a genre I had never been able to work in to that degree, outside the indie world. It was exciting for that reason too.”
Check out the rest of our Q&A with Regina Hall below.
READ RELATED STORY: EURweb Exclusive! Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall Talk ‘When the Bough Breaks’
What type of research did you do to prepare for this role? Did you uncover any surrogate horror stories?
Regina: Well, one of the producers — his wife… it was very loosely based on what they went through and they actually had a surrogate horror story. I didn’t really uncover that. I kinda went to fertility doctors to see what the emotional state Laura would be in. What kinds of things she would be going through emotionally that would allow her to make certain decisions that she makes in the movie.
Speaking of those decisions, did you yourself ever question some of Laura’s choices? Like, allowing Anna to move into her home.
Regina: I kinda felt like…after having several miscarriages, a woman being that successful… it’s kind of the one thing that she ultimately wants, a family — a child. One of the things I liked about inviting her in is that she’s not threatened by a pretty girl. And I liked showing that a black woman can be supportive of a young, pretty girl. What I do think I probably would’ve done in a different way is, I probably would have been more in tune with my husband. I think if there was any flaw that Laura had in that is that she was a bit more consumed with what was happening in her life and the baby than staying in tune with, “He seems a little nervous. He seems anxious for me to come home.” But I think inviting her to stay in the guesthouse seemed like a very logical and safe decision at the time because they could watch her and they could also know that the boyfriend wasn’t around. Because if she would’ve miscarried, then that would have been the end of their very last embryo.
Speaking of the boyfriend, there’s this moment when Anna (Jaz) explains to him just how much John (Morris) wants to be a father, and considering what the audience knows up to that moment, you’re kinda left feeling, ‘Uh-oh…be careful what you wish for, cause you just might get it.’ Do you think there’s a social message woven into the fabric of this story, and if so, what is it?
Regina: I would say so. There’s a message in there for men and women. There’s a moment in there when Laura says, “Am I less than a woman because I couldn’t have a child?”….. I certainly don’t think that womanhood is defined by our ability or desire or willingness to bare children.
Jaz is quite a fresh, new face for audiences. What were you most impressed with in terms of her performance and her collaborative process?
Regina: When I met with her, what I really loved was her ability to have so many faces. It was amazing how she was able to give off such a quiet, sweet quality. But then I also believed the part of her that was a little psychotic. She was wonderful. It’s always exciting seeing such young, and already gifted, talent emerge. It was kind of a discovery for us too, working with her and watching the scenes and doing the scenes, it was amazing — to be so young that she was able to have that kind of range.
Some of our readers want to know — considering the way the film ends, will there be a sequel?
Regina: (laughs) I don’t know. It wasn’t intended to. I think John is a law-abiding guy and he was like, “We gotta do the right thing. We have to call the police.” Cause originally it didn’t actually end that way. It ended with Laura being in the hospital and John rescuing the baby. And I remember talking to the studio head, who is always so amazing and collaborative as well, and I was like, “I think it’s unfortunate that Laura isn’t empowered enough to get up and go get her baby.” I was like, “This woman is torturing her family. I want to kill her!”. We kinda switched some things around so that could happen.
Reflecting on your body of work, which characters have you connected with the most, and where does Laura rank?
Regina: I connect…honestly, with all of them. Laura ranks currently close because I think it just has to do a lot with where your life is, and so now that I’m playing Laura, I am a woman. A lot of things I played I was a younger woman — and as a grown woman, who literally, at least… certainly thinks about the ideas of motherhood and fertility and infertility and all of those things that are real issues, I connect with her. But I always find something in all my characters that secretly I’m very close to in my own personal life for whatever reason.
What is something you know now that you wish you had known when you were first starting out in the business?
Regina: That everything just kind of falls into place. There are a lot of times…you spend a lot of time crying over a role that you don’t get, because you always think that there’s going to be one project that’s going to change your career, and it’s really a marathon. Being patient with yourself enough to learn, and realizing that every role that you get or don’t get really is an opportunity for that, so you learn. I would have saved myself a lot of angst, as opposed to just being like, “Okay.” But, isn’t all of that a part of the process? I don’t know that there’s any part of growth that you would want to undo.
What’s your professional philosophy?
Regina: No one has ever asked me that. What is my professional philosophy?….(she thinks about for a few moments). What’s yours? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it posed like that.
Don’t Dream it Be it, from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” That’s been my life motto since I saw the original film.
Regina: Maybe I’ll steal it, that’s a great one. I think I always think about, the work comes first. That’s probably something I got from studying under my teacher: The work comes first. It’s not about you, it’s about the work.
That’s a good one.
Regina: Yeah… it’s never about you. It’s always about the work. Okay, that’ll be mine. It’s not about me, it’s all about the work.
Hall’s upcoming comedy “Girl’s Trip,” directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring Queen Latifah, and Jada Pinkett Smith will be released July 21.
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