-Hi, Regina. How are ya?
-I'm...good.
I was gonna say great, but I was like
that didn't feel 100% true.
But I'm good. How are you?
-I should say I'm as great as I can be, to be talking to you.
Let's put it like that.
-Thanks. That's nice.
-So, this is -- you are, at this moment,
sort of a historical footnote on the show.
You were supposed to be on the night that --
it was a Thursday in March --
we decided at around 2:00 in the afternoon
to call things -- the whole thing off.
But you were coming into the studio.
-I was dressed.
I had picked out the most beautiful dress for you.
-[ Laughs ]
-Very excited to wear it.
But, yes, yeah, it did, it shut down.
I came home. I was in New York, working,
and I came home right before.
I think you guys shut down right before it got
-Yes. -crazy.
-The crazy thing, as well, is that you were coming on
to promote "Black Monday,"
which is about the stock market crash,
and then, that day was the biggest stock market drop
since black Monday, which was, I mean,
very unfortunate, but also accurate tie-in to your show.
-Yeah. We were, you know,
kind of excited, you know, in a twisted way.
We were like, "Oh, look, this could be --
This is so sad, but this could be great."
Because it was really odd to have history
repeating itself in that way.
-And also, to credit the show,
it's not just about the stock market.
It is a very dark comedy that talks about things
like race as well, so even though it takes place in 1987,
you have made a very timely show.
-I know. You know, it's scary
'cause you ask yourself, "Wow," so, you see a lotta areas
where things really still need to progress,
where there's like progression opportunity.
And, you know, it's fun for us because we are poking fun
at a lotta things historically,
but also, the fact that it's timely also adds to it.
So, yeah, it's been -- It's a fun show to shoot.
I do have to say that.
-I mean, talking about work
that feels very current and of the moment,
you also did a film, a couple of years ago,
called "The Hate U Give."
This is a movie that is incredibly well-reviewed
and, because it is about a police officer shooting,
it does seem like a movie
that a lot of people are discovering now.
Have you found that to be the case as well?
-I do. I mean, I think, you know,
everything that's going on in the world, you know,
and not just in the United States,
but in the world globally, I think,
the fact that people
have had to put their normal activities on pause
has really given them the room to take notice
of things that have been going on.
And so, I think, when we came out, you know,
there were a lotta movies and a lotta things
and people were busy and going to work
and maybe like, "Oh, I don't --
I wanna watch something happy," you know?
And I think, now, people are really in the process
of wanting change and evolution.
And so, now, they're discovering it
and it's resonating with them in a completely different way
than I think it did two years ago,
when they just didn't see it.
-It's really special to make a work with integrity
because that, of course, ages well
and then, when people need something to go to,
to help them work through these moments,
it's nice that it's there for them.
-Yeah. And I think a lot of people thought
the film was gonna be hopeless, but it's actually,
it's also a very, in it's own weird way,
it's a coming-of-age story.
And so I think our youth, which, you know,
and they're doing so much in the world right now.
I mean, you're watching them kinda galvanize
and I think, for them to see the movie,
it's a very empowering movie.
It's what we all can do, but it's this young girl
and her group of friends, how they band together
and what they do, along with everyone else,
so I think it touches
a lotta things that are going on today.