Shirley Star Regina King Opens Up About Grappling With Grief Following Son Ian Alexander Jr's Death

Regina King just saw through the release of film, Shirley. This comes after a more than two year long hiatus from the screen. Prior to Shirley, the actress had last featured in 2021 releases, Flag Day and The Harder They Fall. It was in early 2022 that she lost her son Ian Alexander Jr.

Regina King reflects on losing her son Ian Alexander Jr

Regina King recently marked an appearance on Good Morning America in lieu of promoting her film, Shirley. The candid conversation also saw the actress revisit the topic of her son, musician Ian Alexander Jr's passing. Ian Alexander Jr had died by suicide at the age of 26 in January of 2022. Regina opened up about having finally come to terms with Ian's decision of 'not wanting to be here anymore' - something she feels was tough for others to stomach as they had not lived his life. 

She said, "I understand that grief is love that has no place to go. I know that it's important to me to honor Ian and the totality of who he is. I respect and understand that he didn't want to be here anymore. And that's a hard thing for other people to receive, because they did not live our experience, did not live Ian's journey."

Regina King last featured in film Shirley

Regina King has returned to the silver screen with her film Shirley. The actress essays the titular role of Shirley Chisholm. The film attributes special focus to Chisholm's 1972 presidential run, after having already achieved the feat of being the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Written and directed by John Ridley, Shirley has a strong supporting cast made up of names like Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, André Holland, and Terrence Howard.

Currently in its limited theatrical release run, Shirley will digitally premiere on Netflix on March 22.