Every actor’s worst nightmare is having a famous statement flung back in their face in public. Despite the aura of notoriety, which may appear superhuman from afar, actors are just regular individuals who prefer to go about their business unmolested. That’s why Regina King needs you, the average Joe with no Oscar, to quit shouting lines from Jerry Maguire at her while she’s out in public.
Many people recognize King from a number of performances, notably his Oscar-winning performance in 2018’s If Beale Street Could Talk. However, a sentence from the Tom Cruise film continues to bother her 25 years later, to the point where she is discussing it in interviews in 2021.
When King appeared on Variety’s Women in Motion, she was asked if she realized when the movie was being made that “show me the money” would become an iconic catchphrase. The line, which Cuba Gooding Jr. frequently yells at Cruise’s Maguire in the film, has become one of the film’s most popular — most yelled — scenes. Years later, it appears that King still needs to hear it when people recognize her.
“Oh dear, I did not,” King said. “Nor did I know 25 years later people would still think that that’s an original thing to say to me.”
King admitted that “it’s actually kind of charming,” and while she appreciates that people recognize her and are familiar with her work, it’s also apparent that she would be fine if she never heard it again from random strangers. That makes sense: 199 was a long time ago, and King has been involved in a number of noteworthy projects since then.
The whole event serves as a good reminder that if you’re going to interact with a celebrity, keep in mind that they’ve probably already heard just about everything you could say to them from their most successful flicks. So perhaps a friendly “hello” or a courteous nod will suffice.
