When she was cast as Brenda Jenkins on 227 at 14 years old, her mother, a teacher, was concerned that NBC would put King in a smaller, private school where many young TV actors would go, keeping her “out of touch” with the perspective that public education provides, as she recounted in an interview with NPR.
Not many child stars get the luxury of having the educational experience of a typical student, but Regina King was one of the lucky ones.
King’s onscreen mother, Marla Gibbs, understood that concern, convincing her real mother that the set of the hit sitcom was “a good space” for her daughter while attending Westchester High School in Los Angeles.