After breaking into the industry as the smart and sassy Brenda Jenkins in the hit TV sitcom “227,” which ran from late 1985 to mid 1990, Regina King is now finding comfort playing more mature characters.

Such is the case with the 36-year-old’s latest role in the new holiday film, “This Christmas.” In it, King plays Lisa, a housewife with two children who accepts her husband’s cheating so she can live a lavish lifestyle.

“Lisa is probably the first character in a while that I’ve played that is actually my age, 35, 36 years old,” said King, who is raising a 12-year-old son as a divorced mother. “I think when you hit that age in life, pretenses and all the other layers that you put up to not show the real you start to kind of fall away.”

“This Christmas” also features other longtime actors such as Loretta Devine and Delroy Lindo, and rising stars like Lauren London (“ATL”), Sharon Leal (“Dreamgirls” and “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?”) and Chris Brown (“Stomp the Yard”).

King’s character and her younger sister, Kelli, played by Leal, constantly feud over whether graduating from college is important.

Kelli, a college graduate, constantly tells Lisa why she too should have pursued higher education. She believes Lisa gave up her life for her husband, Malcolm.

“One of the things that Lisa teaches people throughout her journey is that, ‘hey, you can take that step,’” said King. “You can make a change in your life, and improve the quality of your life.”

Other family issues come to a head when the family gathers for Christmas dinner for the first time in nearly four years at Lisa and Kelli’s mother’s house, Ma’Dere (Loretta Divine).

The ending, notes King, was one of the reasons she accepted the role in the film.

“I gravitate toward strong characters and movies that have a happy ending,” King said. “When I think of a role and whether I want it, I look at the movie and to see if this is a movie that I would watch. I do not like to see movies where there is no victory in the end.”

Will Packer, film producer and owner of Rainforest Films, said “This Christmas” is reflective of many families and the trials they face.

“It is such a true slice of life,” Packer said. “A lot of times siblings, because they grow up in the same household, have to kind of get along, even if they don’t really like each other. But then when you’re adults, it forces you to deal with the relationships in a very different way because now there’s nothing that says you have to relate to this person, like them or love them.”