‘Girls Trip’ & ‘Master’ Star Regina Hall On Female Storytellers & Overcoming Adversity Through Writing When Roles Felt “Stagnant”: Cannes Lions

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Master, Black Monday and Girls Trip star Regina Hall has revealed how honing her acting and writing skills helped her overcome a period when the roles she landed felt “stagnant and didn’t show my range.”The actress and producer was speaking at a panel at ad market Cannes Lions exploring the impact of women on storytelling, alongside Amazon’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, Ukonwa Ojo.Hall said: “I always want to do things that are interesting and complex, and show a range of what it is to be human.

There was a point the opportunities weren’t there to play those roles. They were stagnant and didn’t show the range.”She recalled often playing ‘the friend’ or other “marginalized” roles, adding: “You couldn’t perform or showcase the things you have inside.”She said that only once studios realized there was money to be made out of films appealing to audiences beyond the the mass market did she get bigger opportunities. “You plough away, life changes and then studios realise, ‘Oh, that can make money,’” she said. “It’s so connected to what they believe the masses will receive and buy.

Having people take a chance on storytellers also changes what you get to do as an artist.”Hall revealed she overcame these challenges by continuing to act while also writing herself. “It keeps you active and motivated.

You have to make sure you’re always working not to be marginalised; doing smaller films, showcasing something different. Hopefully people in the industry watch that and get to see the range.”She said there were “so many people who haven’t had necessarily had the opportunity to see themselves reflected” in the range of roles they’d played, adding the solution was focusing on “job at a time and… on possibilities, not limitations.”Now