Regina Hall took a break from rehearsals for the 2019 BET Awards two days ahead of the June 23rd live show, and sat down with HollywoodLife for an EXCLUSIVE chat. The gorgeous 48-year-old, who rose to fame in the Scary Movie franchise, shared her excitement — and nerves — ahead of BET’s biggest night of the year.
When we asked Regina if all her success has her feeling like she’s living her best life, she jokingly said she will feel that way, but not until “Sunday night at 7:30 L.A. time” — once her hosting duties are done. The Black Mirror star went on to explain that she has “never done a live show” and that is what’s making her “most nervous” about the upcoming gig. “Everything just has to come together, so I think probably the fact that it’s live, there’s not like wait, cut, can we just reshoot that? So, probably the live aspect of the show has got me most nervous…But it’s like that for me even with shooting, before shooting is when you are the most nervous. When you actually go on set and you actually start working it all goes away.”
Regina also revealed that her way to combat her nerves is to put her all into the preparation. “I think that as long as you’re prepared that’s the key. So for me it’s just making sure that I am prepared, kind of knowing everything, getting everything as precise as you can and then throwing it all away…I’ve never done a live show so I don’t have a pre-show ritual but I’m going to say, that’s my pre-show ritual — preparation!”
Although she assured us she will definitely have a few outfit changes, Regina explained why wardrobe won’t be her main focus. “I have not 100% nailed down everything yet but it’s been fun trying stuff on. I know people are going to be looking at what I’m wearing but I’m not someone who is going to be doing 1 million changes because it’s hard for me to watch the show and then change. I feel like I like to see what is going on with the show and that’s hard to do with all the changes, you get into a rush and can’t really perform as well, so I probably won’t have that many (outfit) changes. I will have some though, probably two or three.”
When Cardi B hits the stage, Regina will most definitely have her full attention on the ‘Money’ rapper because she’s super psyched to see her perform live. “I’m always excited about the performances. I think that’s what always makes the show so good, so I’m excited to see Cardi B. I’ve never seen her perform live before so I can’t wait to see her. I have been having so much fun listening to Cardi B, her music is a really great. And I’m excited for Lizzo — she is a lot of fun and she’s going to be on the show too, so that’s really exciting. And I love all my originals so I am very excited to hear the Mary J Blige tribute. I love so many songs of hers, so I can’t wait to see other artists salute her and pay tribute to her. And there are some up-and-coming artists that I can’t wait to see. All of the performances are going to be really fun.” The 19th BET Awards air live on Sunday, June 23, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and streaming via the BET Now app.