Taraji P. Henson speaks to Nicole Vassell about getting her teeth into new romantic comedy, What Men Want, taking risks, and recovering from social media backlash
‘I thought I’d get an Oscar first!’
Taraji P. Henson is laughing, while talking about her Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an accolade that, at the time of our conversation, she was days away from receiving. Though the news of her getting a highly-coveted spot on the famous Los Angeles sidewalk had come as a welcome surprise, she’s not shy to admit that she expected it to come along at a later point in her career – and after securing that gold statuette that most actors dream of.
‘I thought that’s something that happens when you’re old,’ she laughs again, about her Star. ‘I don’t consider myself old, but I guess I been really busy!’
Since her breakout role in Baby Boy in 2001, Taraji has had countless roles, from supporting to main, that have secured her spot in the global Black consciousness for years, to the point where sectors of the internet classify her as ‘Cousin’ or ‘Auntie Taraji’. As one of Hollywood’s most popular Black actresses, she’s proven her skills regularly, and through a wide range of characters.
Notably, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and received critical and audience acclaim for her performance in Hidden Figures, the 2016 picture that brought the stories of Black women at NASA, during the USA’s first space mission, to light after decades of unpaid reverence. From playing a hit-woman in Proud Mary, and a scorned wife of a cheating husband in Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, both in 2018, she has a point: she has definitely been busy.
This year will see her tick off another exciting role, as she takes the lead in What Men Want – an update on the original, mind-reading comedy starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. As it marks her first time leading a mainstream, big-budget comedy, Taraji is understandably excited; it’s been a long time coming.
‘I’ve been dying to do a comedy my entire career, and finally I have this opportunity to remake one of my favourite comedies, What Women Want – and I knew it could be done,’ she explains, over the phone. ‘Remakes can be done, they just have to be done well. You have to put that spin on it and make it real. And I just thought the spin itself, with making the character a female, and an African-American female – there’s a spin, right!’
The original 2000 film saw Gibson suddenly able to hear the thoughts of all women in the same room as him; this time, Taraji plays lead character Ali Davis, a no-nonsense sports agent determined to reach partner level at her testosterone-driven company. After she drinks some unusual tea from an even more unusual psychic (played by Erykah Badu) at a bachelorette party, then bangs her head, Ali is burdened/gifted with the many varied thoughts of all the men around her.
Recentring the story from a white man to a Black woman is a move that feels distinctly 2019 – not only does it create fresh opportunities for jokes where there wouldn’t have been before, but it provides the chance to examine some of the difficulties that are faced by women like Ali in many different professional fields.
Ali uses this new skill as an advantage to get ahead at her job, where the glass ceiling is doubly reinforced due to her position in a mostly white, mostly male environment. At one point, her boss even makes reference to the fact that he’s hesitant to reprimand her due to fears of the #MeToo movement. When asked if she’d had many of these experiences in her own life, Taraji is quick to answer:
‘My entire career. I’m always paid less; paid less than men, paid less than white women – it’s just what it is, you know? That’s why I’m fighting for every dime, every coin… I’m fighting for others coming up behind me, ‘cuz this narrative is stupid, right? Hopefully one day it won’t be this way.’
Even with a Golden Globe, Screen Actors’ Guild award and more than 20 years of consistent professional experience, you’re still facing the same injustices? I ask.
‘There’s still a fight. I had to walk away from a part not too long ago – like, you know what I just got paid. Why are you low-balling me?’ She chuckles, the confession clearly still a source of bewilderment. ‘It’s not half of what I got the last time! C’mon, I gotta walk away. You’re looking for a discount performance? Find that with somebody else. I’ve proven myself: you get your money’s worth!’
‘I’m not gonna waste my time trying to get people who gon’ hate on me regardless of what I do…’
Upon seeing her latest film, it’s easy to agree with her on that front; she’s magnetic and fun, and a skilled comedian. It’s somewhat surprising that someone with her natural charisma and energy hadn’t had the opportunity to flex her comedy skills in a broader way before now, but it surely won’t be the last time.
A major point where Taraji’s willingness to throw herself into a role has paid off is with her landmark performance as showstopping matriarch Cookie Lyon in Empire, Lee Daniels’ musical drama series that, upon its launch in 2015, spawned an untold number of Halloween costume tributes and viral impressions. With this being one of her most prominent mainstream roles, Cookie Lyon has become an indelible part of her screen legacy. It’s funny to think that there’s a chance she would’ve refused the role, as she states in her 2018 memoir that she was afraid of being typecast, after spending her whole career since Baby Boy avoiding ‘baby mama’ parts. However, she took a chance – and it worked.
‘She scared the hell outta me, and that’s how I pick my roles,’ she says. ‘If it doesn’t scare me, I’m not gonna be transformed, and then the audience won’t be transformed, or challenged, right? So, she scared me and I thought, “Oh my God, I can’t do this!” But once I stopped judging and I saw her as a human, and I saw her as a mother, then I was able to go, “Okay, now I can play her, because I can empathise.” If I can empathise, I can make the audience empathise.’
And as the world became obsessed with everything Cookie, Taraji’s markings of fame went up, and her fanbase got even larger. Arguably, she was finally getting the recognition that she’d long put in the work for, with people adoring her talents and her personality, as seen in televised interviews.
But being someone who people have such a soft spot for, do the public ever get over-familiar?
‘Absolutely – I’ve been hit, I’ve been hugged when I don’t want to, to the point where I’ve had to hire 24/7 security with me, everywhere I go,’ Taraji admits. ‘That’s new for me. I love to go out by myself, you know – and now I can’t make a move without security, because you’re right – they’re too familiar, and I don’t wanna be caught out by myself one time, vulnerable, and be grabbed. I have to protect myself, because I’m a human. And I’m a woman [who] if I feel like you’re running up on me, you might catch these hands! And that’s a lawsuit!’
Yet, even those who are loved dearly are not immune to missteps and criticism – and now more than ever, it’s important to be mindful of the things you post online. With celebrities, any post can turn into a headline; and that Taraji knows more about now.
Days before our interview, she posted a Instagram Story video showing her searching for the amount of posts on the platform tagged with #MuteRKelly, the popular hashtag calling for people to stop supporting the controversial singer by no longer playing or streaming his music. The next videos showed her showing her searching through Instagram again, but this time looking for posts marked #MuteHarveyWeinstein and #MuteWeinstein – which yielded significantly fewer results.
With no further immediate commentary on these posts, many fans were confused at what she meant, with some taking it as the actress providing some sort of defence of Kelly, who is currently facing a number of allegations of sexual misconduct against women and underage girls.
Soon after her posts had caught the negative attention of the public, she clarified her stance on R. Kelly on Twitter, writing: ‘LET ME BE CLEAR R. KELLY IS GUILTY AND WRONG AND SHOULD BE MUTED PERIOD!!!!!’
When I ask her to clarify exactly what she meant in the posts, she’s at her most serious – and far less expansive than at other points in our conversation.
‘I didn’t mean anything. I made an observation. And then all of a sudden, people started putting in my mouth what I was trying to do. I made a simple observation. Period. That was it.’
Is social media a scary place for people with large followings, then? The knowledge that things you say can be seen by millions of people?’
‘It’s this simple: you can’t please everybody,’ she says plainly. ‘Jesus couldn’t do it! I know my heart is in the right place. The people who know me, that read my book, and have been following me since I was on Sister Sister [the sitcom starring Tia and Tamera Mowry] they know me. They know what I stand for. They see it in my work, they see it in my interviews… I launched a not-for-profit mental health organisation, so I’m for people who suffer. In the African-American community, it’s for us! [People] who are suffering because of traumatic situations in their lives.
‘So then, what was there to clear up?’ she continues. ‘Those are people who don’t choose to know me for real, or if they don’t know me, there’s just finding something negative to say because they’re in their feelings about whatever – I can’t explain that. But the people who are down and understand me and know me and have been following me, they get it. So I’m not gonna waste my time trying to get people who gon’ hate on me regardless of what I do, anyway. That’s not worth my breath.’
On her fiancé, Kelvin Hayden: ‘He proves everything that I thought about men wrong’
Instead, she’s happier to talk about the positive things she has going for her; one being the aforementioned mental health organisation, The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which helps people of colour find professionals also of colour to get mental health help. ‘When [me and my son] needed to talk to someone on the opposite side of the sofa that was culturally competent, I couldn’t find it. And I was very frustrated.’
She’s also engaged to former American football player Kelvin Hayden, who she credits for helping change her own mind about ‘what men want’.
‘Before, I’d probably say: [does a voice] “They just want sex and money!” But then I met my fiancé, and he’s not like that – he proves everything that I thought about men wrong; he is not the guy who was out chasing tail, he’s not that kind of guy. And so that made me realise: “Ah, maybe men are not all the same.” And then I get this movie and I’m like, at the very core at all of us, what we want is a relationship we can trust! Someone that loves us, adores us, respects us, loves us unconditionally. I think that’s what we all want. Humans make it more difficult than it has to be.’
Before we end, I have to know: for someone who’s played such a variety of roles over the years, what comes next?
‘I want a franchise movie; I don’t have that. I want to do more comedy, I’d love to do a fantasy role, I would love to play a dark villain – I’m always the good guy, the strong woman. I wanna be the villain. The one you love to hate.’
‘I can’t wait to see that,’ I reply, before she shouts: ‘Let’s put it out there that I wanna be the female Joker!’ She laughs loudly, once again, before we say our goodbyes. Who knows? With her track record, and her genuine passion for the craft, it wouldn’t be surprising if she reaches that goal, sooner rather than later.
What Men Want is in cinemas from 15th March
