Nobody is doing it like Regina King.
The actor won her fourth Emmy award in six years on Sunday, picking up the trophy in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie category for her performance in HBO’s one-season-wonder Watchmen.
King took home the same award in 2018 for her work in the short-lived Netflix series Seven Seconds before going on to win her first Oscar the following year for If Beale Street Could Talk.
King previously picked up back-to-back Emmys in 2015 and 2016 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her standout turns in American Crime.
Her competition this year, however, was perhaps as fierce as it’s ever been: Cate Blanchett, Kerry Washington, Octavia Spencer and Shira Haas.
But King came out on top once again, delivering her acceptance while wearing a “Say Her Name” T-shirt with a portrait of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old emergency room technician who was fatally shot by police in March.
“This is so freaking weird,” King said, before thanking her fellow nominees. “I really love being a thespian.”
She went on to thank show creator Damon Lindelof for allowing the cast and crew to “bring art to truth to power.”
“You gotta vote. I would be remiss not to mention that, being part of a show as prescient as Watchmen,” she continued. “Make a plan. Be a good human. Rest in power, RBG.”
Watchmen led all shows heading into the awards ceremony with 26 nominations.
King’s co-stars Jeremy Irons, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jovan Adepo, Louis Gossett Jr. and Jean Smart were also nominated for their work on the show, which is in the running for Outstanding Limited Series.
The Lindelof-created drama was inspired by the iconic graphic novel of the same name. King starred as Angela Abar, a detective for the Tulsa police force in Oklahoma by day who assumes the role of the vigilante Sister Night when the sun goes down. The series was hailed as the most timely television event of the year as it confronted issues such as white supremacy, police brutality and America’s racist past and present.
King said she drew on “all my experiences … of being a Black woman” for the part.
“When I’m doing a role, I usually have a person as the blueprint to give myself a backstory,” she told The Wrap.
“With Angela, I didn’t have that person or experience that I was specifically drawing from. But just recently I made the discovery that what I was pulling from was probably all the experiences, including my own, of being a Black woman. And as we got deeper into the process, I started to personalise her more.”
Watchmen likely won’t return for a second instalment, but King isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The actor’s awards streak could continue come Oscar season with her feature-film directorial debut, One Night in Miami, already bringing the buzz after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival this month.
