Regina King on Son's Death: Sadness Will Never End

Oscar-winning actor Regina King opened up, in an interveiw, about her grief since her son, Ian Alexander Jr., died in January 2022. 

King, appearing on "Good Morning America" on Thursday in her first TV appearance since  her son died by suicide at 26, said she is "a different person." 

"Grief is a journey, you know. I understand that grief is love that has no place to go. I know that it's important to me to honor Ian in the totality of who he is, speak about him in the present, because he is always with me and the joy and happiness that he gave all of us," King said, according to Variety.

"When it comes to depression, people expect it to look a certain way — they expect it to look heavy. To have to experience this and not be able to have the time to just sit with Ian's choice, which I respect and understand … 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."

King admitted she initially was "so angry with God."

"Why would that weight be given to Ian? Of all of the things that we had gone through — therapy, psychiatrists, programs — and Ian was like, 'I'm tired of talking, Mom,'" she said. "Sometimes, a lot of guilt comes over me. When a parent loses a child, you still wonder, What could I have done so that wouldn't have happened?

"I know that I share this grief with everyone, but no one else is Ian's mom, you know? Only me. So it's mine. And the sadness will never go away. It will always be with me."

King took a step back from acting after her son's death, but now is returning as the lead of "Shirley," a biopic about the U.S.'s first-ever Black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm, the Independent reported.

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