Taraji P. Henson boasts 83 screen credits on IMDB.com, with four new projects on the way.
Most actors would kill for that resume. Many never break the double-digit mark. Others give up before their careers ever catch fire.
She's one of the lucky ones, and she had three long-running TV shows ("Empire," "Person of Interest" and "The Division"). She's also talented, attractive, and, by all accounts, a strong addition to any cast.
Why else is she working non-stop in a very competitive industry? Yet she can't stop complaining about her Hollywood career.
In 2023, Henson threatened to quit acting over salary concerns. She opened up about the problem to Gayle King on SiriusXM while in promotion mode for "The Color Purple," the cinematic musical based upon the Broadway show.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do [and] getting paid a fraction of the cost ... I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired. I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ Well, I have to. The math ain’t math-ing. When you start working a lot, you have a team. Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. It’s a whole team behind us. They have to get paid.”
Cue the microscopic violins.
She made a similar complaint in 2019, arguing her Oscar-nominated role in 2008's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" only paid her $150,000.
That's more cash than many patrons of the film make in a year.
Now, she's back on another podcast and sharing more complaints about her career and the industry in toto. This time, the sympathetic ear belongs to Hoda Kotb's "Making Space" podcast. She told Kotb that her breakout role in 2001's "Baby Boy" made her and co-star Tyrese Gibson famous, but only Gibson went on to snag franchise film work.
That's the "Fast & Furious" saga and "Transformers," for the record.
“I was new to Hollywood, and I just remember everybody coming to me going, ‘Oh my God, you’re gonna blow up. Do you understand what John Singleton does to people’s careers? Look at this person and this person,'” Henson remembered. “But I don’t know, discernment told me something different. And I just knew it wasn’t gonna be that way. Something sat on my heart, and it was like, ‘I don’t know that that’s gonna happen like that overnight for me.’ And so, sure enough… but I knew deep down it would for Tyrese.”
The far-Left Variety notes that Henson has landed franchise film work, but it's often via voice work in kiddie series ("Minions") or smaller gigs (2010's "The Karate Kid").
Her complaints come at a time when Hollywood is shrinking on many fronts. TV and film production in L.A. is floundering. Actors are struggling to stay steadily employed, even Oscar winners like Jamie Lee Curtis acknowledge the new reality. Crafts people are either struggling to generate gigs or wondering how A.I. technology could wipe out their fields.
Meanwhile, Henson remains gainfully employed and burdened with a sizable chip on her shoulder. And, when her mood darkens, she jets off to a new country. Variety's report shares how she spent a month in Bali last year to clear her mind and come back refreshed and invigorated for more work.
How many people reading this can do the same without blinking an eye?
