Shes been bred for days like these.
“I’m alwaysgo, go, go.
I love becoming different people.”
King was four years old when she starred in her first TV commercial.
Over Zoom, however, our options were limited.
“I’d love to.”
Dress: Aaltuzarra; Bangle: Chloe; Earrings: Misho Designs
It quickly becomes clear this exercise was mostly for my benefit, not King’s.
Thats King: The actress’s ice comes pre-broken.
Im just really full."
This comes as an immense relief to me.
“Oh, I went above and beyond the Zoom mullet for this.
Its a wonder Im wearing pants at all.
Angelo Sgambati/Design by Kenya Bravo
I even kept my mascara on,” King banters back with ample side mouth and sarcasm.
(Her mascara comes courtesy of Revlon, for inquiring minds.
“I love makeup.
It’s just a way to reclaim your day.")
My exchange with King is no different.
Pleasantries like “how are you?”
Bikini, Jacket, Skirt: Staud
have universally transformed into, “Things are weird.
How are they weird for you, specifically?”
King starts by offeringherfavorite term from the past year: FOGO,” aka, the fear ofgoingout.
Angelo Sgambati/Design by Kenya Bravo
“I’ve become much more introverted over the past 20 months or so.
I have zero FOMO anymore,” she reveals.
Unable to work or travelthe things that make her come aliveher confidence wavered.
Dress: Jacquemus; Earrings: Pamela Love, Monbouquette Jewelry; Bangle: Lady Grey Jewelry; Ring: Lang Antiques
“I went through a lot of weird, personal relationship-with-my-body, medical stuff,” she confides.
King gestures vaguely toward her torso, winding her hands through the hair, as if conducting a spell.
“I completely lost my enjoyment of exercising during the pandemic,” she continues.
“I had no drive, no motivation.
I pretty much just stopped working out altogether.”
Then I have meetings to prepare for the rest of the film.
Jacket, Top: Miu Miu; Earrings: Temple St. Clair
But then I get out and sleep like a goddamn baby."
King laughs with self-deprecation at how influencer-y it sounds to narrate your wellness routine like this.
Earnestness, its obvious, is not the actress’s default.
Ending her days physically exhausted rather than mentally exhausted has been a welcome change for King.
She effuses: “When I finish this movie, Ill feel like I can do anything.”
King lights up like a glow stick when she talks about her work.
Angelo Sgambati/Design by Kenya Bravo
To say the girl does not emanate early 20-something energy would be an understatement.
“When I was 16, my friends were 30.”
This didnt always feel fun.
King admits to feeling belittled throughout her career, especially during her teen years.
“I had so much more experience and responsibility than most people my age.”
Self-aware as ever, she states: “My work kind of started to speak for itself.”
It’s hard not to.
I do it, too.
Whether youre in the public eye or not, theres so much we have to let go."
“Because you’ll never be happy,” she rationalized.
“I actually just started therapy in quarantine.
I’d never, ever done it before,” King divulges.
“And not because I didn’t think I needed it, I just wasn’t ready.
To put down this little rectangle box in my hand.”
She wags her phone in the air, then drops it like its made of hot lava.
Im just gaining more of a sense of what really matters."
