Taraji P. Henson
Birthdate: Sep 11, 1970
Birthplace: Washington D.C., USA
Taraji P. Henson (birthname: Taraji Penda Henson) is one of the trailblazers for the new generation of Black female actors in Hollywood, a high-energy performer of great range and intensity as exemplified in her vivid turn as Cookie on the long-running Fox TV series, Empire (2015-2020).
After five years of TV guest appearances on such network hits as ER (1998) and Felicity (1998-1999), Henson’s first significant movie role was in John Singleton’s Locarno festival award-winning Baby Boy (2001), with Tyrese Gibson, Snoop Dogg, and Ving Rhames.
Henson’s first triumph was in the Sundance indie discovery, Craig Brewer’s Hustle & Flow (2005), with Terrence Howard and Anthony Anderson. Henson, one of Singleton’s favorite actors, rejoined him for the crime drama, Four Brothers (2005), with Mark Wahlberg and Tyrese Gibson, followed by Joe Carnahan’s cynical action movie starring Ben Affleck, Smokin’ Aces (2006), with Andy Garcia, Alicia Keys, Ray Liotta, and Ryan Reynolds.
Taraji P. Henson gained great acclaim—and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, one of 13--for the role of Queenie in David Fincher’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), with Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, and Mahershala Ali. Henson joined Hong Kong stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith for the hit revival, The Karate Kid (2010).
Henson expanded her portfolio to include producing, No Good Deed (2014), with Idris Elba. She executed the same combination of star-executive producer with Babak Nafaji’s thriller Proud Mary (2018), with Danny Glover and Xander Berkeley, and Neil Shankman’s What Men Want (2019), with Tracy Morgan and Erykah Badu.
Taraji P. Henson’s biggest role to date was her portrayal of Black female NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson in Theodore Melfi’s Hidden Figures (2016), with Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, and Kirsten Dunst, which was nominated for three Oscars including Best Picture and won the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Cast.
Taraji P. Henson joined the Despicable Me voice cast for her role of Belle Bottom in Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Steve Carell, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Pierre Coffin, and Dolph Lungren. In recent years, Henson has performed as a voice actor in animated features, including Disney Animation’s Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and the Canadian-made PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023).
Taraji P. Henson collaborated with the gifted Canadian director Michael Dowse for the action comedy, Coffee & Kareem (2020), with Ed Helms, and then performed two consecutive voice roles in animated features: First, as Belle Bottom in Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Lucy Lawless, Michelle Yeoh, and Danny Trejo; and then in PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023), co-written and directed by Cal Brunker, with Henson joining Mckenna Grace, Marsai Martin, Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Serena Williams, James Marsden, and Kristen Bell, and which grossed over $197 million for Paramount/Nickelodeon.
Playing the role of Shug Avery, Henson joined the ensemble of Danielle Brooks, Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, and Jon Batiste in director Blitz Bazawule’s and writer Marcus Gardley’s screen version of the musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel, The Color Purple (2023). Henson starred in writer-director Alessandro Camon’s cop-crime movie, Time Alone (date to be announced), with Clayton Cardenas.
Personal Details
D.C.-born Taraji P. Henson was raised by parents Bernice Gordon and Boris Henson. Henson attended Oxon attended North Carolina Agriculture & Technology State University with an electrical engineering major and transferred to Howard University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1995. Her father Boris died in 2006. Henson was in a relationship with William Johnson from 1987 to 1994; the couple had one son, Marcell Johnson, in 1994. Henson was engaged to ex-NFL cornerback Kelvin Hayden in 2018 but called it off by 2020. Her height is 5’ 4”.
Filmography
actor
Previous (10)
- 2023 | The Color PurpleasShug Avery
The Color Purple
A woman faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.
- 2023 | PAW Patrol: The Mighty MovieasVictoria Vance
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie
A magical meteor crash lands in Adventure City and gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers, transforming them into The Mighty Pups
- 2022 | Minions: The Rise of GruasBelle Bottom
Minions: The Rise of Gru
The untold story of one twelve-year-old's dream to become the world's greatest supervillain.
- 2019 | The Best of EnemiesasAnn Atwater
The Best of Enemies
Civil rights activist Ann Atwater faces off against C.P. Ellis, Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, in 1971 Durham, North Carolina over the issue of school integration.
- 2019 | What Men WantasAli Davis
What Men Want
A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men's thoughts.
- 2018 | Ralph Breaks the InternetasYesss
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Six years after the events of "Wreck-It Ralph," Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure.
- 2018 | Tyler Perry’s AcrimonyasMelinda
Tyler Perry’s Acrimony
A faithful wife, tired of standing by her devious husband, is enraged when it becomes clear she has been betrayed.
- 2018 | Proud MaryasMary
Proud Mary
Mary is a hit woman working for an organized crime family in Boston, whose life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes bad.
- 2016 | Hidden FiguresasKatherine G. Johnson
Hidden Figures
Three female African-American mathematicians play a pivotal role in astronaut John Glenn's launch into orbit. Meanwhile, they also have to deal with racial and gender discrimination at work.
- 2014 | No Good DeedasTerry
No Good Deed
An unstable escaped convict terrorizes a woman who is alone with her two children.
Some Facts About Taraji P. Henson
Job-Jobs: To cover her tuition for Howard University, Taraji P. Henson held two jobs: working as a secretary at the Pentagon in the morning, and working as a singing-dancing waitress on a cruise ship at night.
First Movie Role: Henson’s first credit movie role is “Left-Wing Student” in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000).
Animal Rights Activist: Taraji P. Henson posed nude for PETA’s “I’d Rather Be Naked Than Wear Fur” ad campaign in 2011, and participated in another PETA campaign in 2013.
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