I can’t speak for the masses, but I’ll say that MY most distinctive memory of Taraji P. Henson emerging as, in my opinion, one of our most phenomenal black actresses, was in her role as “Yvette” in “Baby Boy”. She’s come a long way since that debut role in the 2001 John Singleton directed film, to say the least.
Now, she’s apart of one of the most influential television series that our culture has ever seen, the new Fox series, “Empire”. We can’t credit her role alone as reason being for all the success the show has earned, but “Cookie” sure does rake in those ratings. Empire has already renewed their contract for Season 2 & we’re only in the 5th episode of Season 1!
Henson recently covered the February/March 2015 issue of Uptown Magazine & in her cover story, she takes us into the wonderful world that she currently lives in. We get her personal take on her role as “Cookie Lyons” in the series, & she touches on how critics view the show as being “stereotypical” for the black community.
Her perspective on this role is that of what makes a great actress.
I played a lot of characters that could’ve been borderline stereotypical women, but my job as an actress is to make the audience understand and empathize with the people. Cookie is a lot. She wears me out but I know this woman. I’ve done my research inside and out. I took Cookie from Lee and made her my own.
When touching on critics believing the program to be “stereotypical,” she held back nothing.
That’s what art is supposed to do: expose this shit. You know, we’re dealing with subject matter that’s not really dealt with…so let’s lift the carpet up and deal with this dirt. It’s not like we bashed Barack Obama and the show went off. No, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) jumped in his [son’s] ass. That’s real life stuff. So I’m glad you’re mad.
Being a black woman in Hollywood is something like a love/hate thing. You endure a lot, but the growth is immeasurable. Taraji spoke on her juvenile jealousy of Amy Adams a bit in her interview as well.
I used to have this crazy thing with Amy Adams…You see her [consistently] getting nominated, as she should, because Amy does good work. But, it’s like, ‘Well, I did good work too.’ But if you choose to stay in that place then you become miserable. It’s a pity party and nobody cares. I’m human, so I’ve done it. But I check that because it’s ego and it’s the devil.”
Above all things, this woman has sealed her place within our culture, within film, & within history. What she has done thus far in her career cannot be duplicated & she’s paving the way for those who will come behind her.
Take a look below at a few of the super sexy photos taken from her Uptown Magazine spread.
© 2015, Niyah Nel. All rights reserved.
