Speak with actress Regina Hall for a few minutes, and a theme starts to emerge. Why does she love the renowned La Mamounia hotel in Morocco? The cuisine. What does she recall about her first trip on a first-class flight? The meals. What made her flip for Byron Bay, Australia when filming there? “All I talk about is food,” she laughs. “But I really did love the food!”
Her focus on the culinary is one of the reasons Hall, who has so often played the hilarious best friend character, seems like she’d be a great travel companion. In anticipation of her two new films—this month brings Me Time on Netflix, and Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. in theaters and on Peacock—she chatted with Condé Nast Traveler about small hotel rooms, weekends in Mexico, and arriving at the airport at the last minute.
Her priority when planning a vacation:
The hotel. Accommodations have to be really specific: If I'm alone, I like small rooms. I should say “quaint.” I shouldn't say this because then the next time I travel for something, they'll be like, "We just read she wants quaint!" Yeah, I actually do! I just like nice, simple, clean accommodation.
Her first experience on a first-class flight:
My very first one was [for] Scary Movie, because the studio put me on it. Then I was like, I can't go back. You do get used to it! Even more so than now, because I think they've reconfigured the planes—I remember there was a lot more room. I remember the beverage and food. And early boarding! It was just a whole different world. I wasn't a drinker, but because it was free, I had to drink.
How early she arrives to the airport:
Oh, I'm awful. My assistant’s nerves are always on edge. An hour is what I try for but sometimes I do push it, because 45 minutes is the cutoff for luggage. I try to do no shorter than 50 minutes. The truth is, situations like that make me less stressed, because I have to be in the moment. I don't have time to think. I know it's odd. And then when I make it? Ooh, it feels good. I missed it, going home during the holidays, because something happened and... oh, nothing happened, the lines were long! Longer than what I thought.
Her pet peeves:
Well, I hate when people are rude to people in the service industry, whether it's flight attendants or at your hotel. I used to be a waitress, so there's something about behavior that’s demeaning or condescending that I don't like at all.
Her best filming location to date:
I really fell in love with Australia for Nine Perfect Strangers. We were in Byron Bay. It was beautiful—the food, the landscape. It was a double-edged sword because [of] the wildlife... There were too many poisonous creatures, although they were still incredibly magical. It's not like I liked running into snakes or things, but just the diversity of the creatures was pretty incredible.