Regina King Reveals She's a 'Different Person' 2 Years After Son's Suicide: 'Grief Is a Journey'

Regina King finally felt ready to open up about her son Ian Alexander Jr.'s devastating death by suicide more than two years ago.

In a preview for an upcoming Good Morning America interview, the 53-year-old reflected on how she's dealt with the tragic death of her only child — who took his own life on January 21, 2022, just two days after his 26th birthday.

"What have these last two years been like for you?" GMA host Robin Roberts asked The Boondocks voice actor, who admitted she is "a different person now" in comparison to how she initially was at the time of her son's passing.

"Grief is a journey," King expressed. "I understand that."

The Harder They Fall actress continued: "Grief is love that has no place to go. And that we all handle it differently. 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 explained the importance of honoring Alexander Jr. is why she dedicated her new film Shirley — which hits Netflix on Friday, March 22 — to him.

"When it comes to depression, people expect it to look a certain way — they expect it to look heavy," the Boyz n the Hood star detailed. "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."

Coming to peace with Alexander Jr.'s decision to take his own life was difficult for King, as she said her inability to accept his suicide caused her to become "so angry with God."

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"Why would that weight be given to Ian?" King found herself asking. "Of all of the things that we had gone through — therapy, psychiatrists, programs — and Ian was like, 'I’m tired of talking, Mom.'"

The Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous actor confessed she occasionally puts the blame on herself, and at times feels her son's suicide had to do with her potential failure as a mother.

"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?'" she explained. "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."