Below are the highlights of Taraji speaking on her most powerful character to date and more:
On why she loves her character Cookie Lyon:
“I love her. She’s the truth. That’s why people feel her so strong and deep,” says Henson. “Yes, she sold drugs. And, yes, that’s one of the worst things anyone could possibly do. But Cookie did it to feed her family. She also manned up, did her time and broke the cycle of poverty. ... Now if she were rich and selling drugs, that’s another matter entirely.”
On Cookie’s fashion:
“She’s been in jail for 17 years, so she starts out in a time warp. We get to see her have not only a character arc but a fashion arc too! Like Cookie, I love color, and I love prints; but I wouldn’t wear all prints everywhere… and then add the major shoes… and then the makeup and hair… and then the jewelry! My personal style is a more restrained chic,” says Henson, who admits to sharing Cookie’s fondness for animal prints but not for wearing fur. “I don’t judge, but if I feel fur, I want it to be attached to my dog who’s licking me to tell me he loves me.” And that bling? She laughs. “The designers Usually show me three trays of jewelry, and I just put it all on. Cookie didn’t grow up with anything, she wants everybody to know she’s rich.”
On starring as Cookie Lyon:
“I know I’m good at playing characters that could be stereotypical, but I make them real. And I do that by playing why they’re the way they are. Then an audience can understand them, maybe even like them.” And how does Henson feel about Cookie? “I love her. She’s the truth. That’s why people feel her so strong and deep,” says Henson. “Yes, she sold drugs. And, yes, that’s one of the worst things anyone could possibly do. But Cookie did it to feed her family. She also manned up, did her time and broke the cycle of poverty. ... Now if she were rich and selling drugs, that’s another matter entirely.”
On her childhood:
As an only child who was born to parents who split when she was young, she was was raised by her mother in a rough area of southeastern Washington, D.C. Her mom, Bernice Gordon, worked in a distribution center for a local department store; her dad, Boris, who played an important role in her life, was a maintenance man and freelance metal worker. “We never lived in the projects, but we were in the ’hood, lower middle class, living paycheck to paycheck,” says Henson.
On failing pre-calculus while pursuing an electrical engineering degree:
“And it wasn’t even calc! And I had two tutors! How was I going to be an engineer!” she says. “But then I Figured, so what? Deep down I knew I still wanted to be an actress. I had an English class in the theater arts building. I’d see all those crazy and eclectic people, and I knew I was one of them.”
On her dad’s inspirational words:
‘"How do you expect to catch fish on dry land?’ he asked me. The lines, the wisdom, the truth… I put a lot of my dad into Cookie,” she says.
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