Regina Hall already had a career to be proud of when she turned 40. Starring in projects like Scary Movie and Ally McBeal served as evidence of success, but Hall was actually ready to leave it all behind and join the nunnery. A true Sliding Doors moment happened in 2010, and Hall’s career would look unrecognizable if she’d been accepted.
Regina Hall’s Love Of Nuns
Growing up in a Catholic school, Hall’s remained religious her entire life. When she was 14 years old, long before she appeared in her first film The Best Man, she seriously looked into being a nun.
Hall tells The Fader, “When I was 14, I really loved the nuns. They ran our school and were so smart. They didn’t have to worry about what to wear. I loved their little quiet time in prayer. It felt serene. I remember they were having a number of young girls join the convent, and I was like, I would like that.”
For one reason or another, Hall decided not to pursue the nunnery as a teenager. Instead, she became a fairly successful actress. She starred in the Scary Movie franchise, Love & Basketball, and two seasons of Ally McBeal. In 2009, she worked alongside Denzel Washington in Law Abiding Citizen, and soon joined the ensemble in Death at a Funeral.
Two And A Half Decades Later…
In 2010, Regina Hall turned 40. A bad breakup had her reconsidering her entire life, and she decided to go back to the nunnery. “When I was older, I wanted to do it because I find that my happiest places are when I’m in a really spiritual place,” Hall said. “I thought, What a great life. How could I ever be sad if I’m always in prayer? But I was too old.”
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Hall explains that different sects have different rules, and she couldn’t find one she loved that would accept her, with some rejecting her for being a year too old. “Every sect has different rules and this particular one I was interested in, their idea was that this wasn’t a Plan B. It’s not, life’s not going good so I wanna be a nun. Some of them limit you by the number of partners you’ve had—but I couldn’t join those either,” she says.
Despite the setback, Hall wasn’t too disappointed. “I was more surprised. Like, That’s not the road? I just thought I’d be so happy if I was a nun.” The last 10 years have been even more productive for Hall, with hits like About Last Night, The Hate U Give, and The Best Man Holiday. She earned critical praise and numerous awards for 2018’s Support the Girls and is now starring alongside Sterling K. Brown in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. If she’d been accepted as a nun, none of this could have been.