The Oscar-nominated actor leads an all-star cast on Lee Daniels’ new series about the dark side of hip-hop. “I know I’m going to have to probably dig into some ugly places in my life to bring the character to life,” she told BuzzFeed News.
Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon on Empire
Chuck Hodes/Fox
When Taraji P. Henson first surfaces on Fox's new series Empire, she's dressed head to toe in orange, and her hair is pulled back into a rather unglamorous ponytail. As her character prepares to leave the prison that's held her captive for nearly two decades, she utters her first line in a gravelly voice: "Thought I'd never see this day." And for Henson herself, that couldn't be more apropos.
On the new Fox series, the Oscar-nominated actor delivers one of her finest performances to date as Cookie Lyon, a newly sprung inmate who's spent the last 17 years serving time for a drug-related crime while her ex-husband and their three sons reaped the spoils of her street-running days.
The ensemble cast of Empire is peppered with other Oscar-nominated actors — like Terrence Howard (Cookie's aforementioned ex Luscious Lyon) and Gabourey Sidibe (Luscious' assistant Becky) — and Henson has already shared the screen with the likes of Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Idris Elba (No Good Deed), and Don Cheadle (Talk to Me). But this is most certainly Henson's moment. On the Lee Daniels-created series, she operates as if she has something to prove with every step of her stilettos, every word that leaves her lips, and every silent but symbolic glare. The result is the kind of performance that makes critics and Hollywood insiders take notice. Daniels created this new show with Danny Strong, screenwriter of his critically acclaimed 2013 film, The Butler.
"She's just incredible, isn't she?" Daniels told BuzzFeed News of Henson, noting that she was the only actor he envisioned playing Cookie. She was the first to join the Empire cast, and then the rest of the ensemble followed, some (like Howard, with whom she starred in 2005's Hustle & Flow) at Henson's suggestion.
Fox
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