With an Oscar in hand and to the funky Questlove-curated tune, Regina King made her way to the stage on Sunday night (April 25). The Oscar-nominated One Night in Miami director and this year’s host of the 93rd Academy Awards kicked off her opening monologue by candidly addressing her relief at the Chauvin trial verdict.
“It has been quite a year, and we are still smack-dab in the middle of it,” she said candidly. “We are mourning the loss of so many, and I have to be honest, if things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis, I might have traded in my heels for marching boots.”
She added: “Now, I know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you, but as a mother of a Black son, I know the fear that so many live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes that.”
King went on to speak about how this year’s Oscars is different and addressed any concerns around the maskless nominees and participants at the biggest night in Hollywood held at Los Angeles’ Union Station.
“Well, think of this as a movie set, an Oscars movie with a cast of over 200 nominees. People have been vaxed, tested, retested, socially distanced, and we are following all of the rigorous protocols that got us back to work safely. So, just like on a movie set, when we’re rolling masks off and when we’re not rolling, masks on. Ok, that’s how we do it.”
Watch King’s cinematic entrance, close-called trip-up, and opening monologue where she kept it all the way real. Congratulations to her on her team’s three nominations—Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Song—for her directorial debut, One Night in Miami.