Regina Hall returned to her Showtime series Black Monday for a big surprise. After the historic 1987 stock market crash occurred in the Season 1 finale, Dawn Towner (Hall) has started her own brokerage firm. Hall said she did not find out this detail until she read the script.
“I was even shocked,” Hall told UPI in an interview. “It’s always fun to read and discover more about your character.”
If Dawn were a historical figure, she would be making history. She was formerly a partner in The Jammer Group, also a fictional black-run brokerage firm in the ’80s. Jammer CEO Mo Monroe (Don Cheadle), has fled from charges of financial terrorism and the double homicide of Rod Jaminski (Bruce Dern) and Lenny Lehman (Ken Marino).
“We’re talking about things that never existed, an all female firm headed by a black woman on Wall Street,” Hall said, adding that she enjoys carving a new path through the world of finance in the ’80s.
Dawn hires more female brokers and allows working mothers to breastfeed in the office.
“Maybe [this is] what it would have looked like had we had a female firm,” Hall said.
As Black Monday continues to explore drama through the late ’80s, the show also flashes back to the ’70s, when Mo and Dawn met. Mo invites Dawn to be part of The Jammer Group, but won’t make her a full partner.
Hall said she could relate to such deflating moments.
“I think we’ve all had moments where we have expected one thing and received another,” Hall said. “I think Dawn certainly felt like she deserved it — that she put in the time, the work and also had the knowledge to be able to be a partner. She kind of got [expletive]ed again. I think Dawn is probably used to it.”
Dawn stuck with Jammer and came out on top in 1987. Hall sees parallels between the personal one-upmanship she plays with Mo and the high stakes buying and selling in the market.
“For Dawn, it’s exciting because it’s about winning,” Hall said. “She’s a winner. She’s competitive and, in her mind, she’s smart and persuasive, and she’s driven to make a lot of money.”
Hall also sees Dawn’s rise on the trading room floor as an aspirational tale.
“She’s very driven to success, and Wall Street is a world where there aren’t many women who are afforded the opportunity to have success,” Hall said. “I’m sure they would have been having success [if they had the opportunity]. It’s just such a male-dominated field.”
Before Black Monday, Hall was enjoying a thriving movie career. She starred in the hit comedy Girls Trip, the acclaimed The Hate U Give, and the indie Support the Girls, and had supporting roles in Little and Shaft.
Hall wasn’t necessarily looking to transition to television. She still films movies between seasons. The role of Dawn appealed to Hall whether it would be in a film or series.
“I was looking for something that was exciting, and that my storyline didn’t have to be necessarily connected to the man as the wife,” Hall said. “This was perfect because Dawn was her own person, always in a fight to show who she was. She’s connected to Mo, but she’s her own entity. So it had the love story, it had the comedy, it had the drama.”
Hall was not aware of any movie offers she did not receive while she was committed to Black Monday. If there were, she has no regrets.
“I never feel like I’m missing out, probably because I’m really happy with what I’m doing,” Hall said. “I always feel like you only feel like you’re missing out when you’re not excited about what you’re doing. When I’m not available, I’m just not available, but I feel incredibly grateful to be where I am.”
Girls Trips fans are waiting for Hall to reunite with Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah for a sequel. The cast is interested, but they’re all waiting for a script.
“I did hear a rumor that they were writing it, but that’s all I know,” Hall said.
In the first film, four friends took a trip to New Orleans. Hall says she’s heard a lot of speculation on destinations for the sequel, but no draft of a screenplay.
“Everyone has an idea like, ‘We should go here’ but really people are just picking places they want to go,” Hall said.
Black Monday returns Sunday at 10 p.m. EDT on Showtime.
LOS ANGELES, (UPI)
