Taraji P. Henson

Academy Award nominated, Emmy nominated, and Golden Globe-winning actor, filmmaker, and activist Taraji P. Henson quickly rose to fame after her breakout performance in the critically acclaimed film HUSTLE & FLOW. In 2020, Henson wrapped her iconic run as “Cookie Lyon” in Fox’s hit musical drama EMPIRE, which has earned her three Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics Choice Award, and three BET Awards.

Henson can recently be heard on the big screen lending her voice to Paramount Pictures PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie was released on September 29, 2023. Henson can most recently be seen starring in the Blitz Bazawule adaption of THE COLOR PURPLE as Shug Avery, which was released on December 25, 2023. She stars opposite Fantasia and Danielle Brooks, with Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones producing. The Warner Bros. film is an adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, which is itself an adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. She can also recently be heard lending her voice to MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU as Belle Bottom, which was released in July 2022. Henson also starred as Miss Hannigan in NBC’s Annie Live! in December of 2021, for which she won an NAACP award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited Series or Dramatic Special.

Prior credits include the Academy Award-nominated film HIDDEN FIGURES, Tyler Perry’s ACRIMONY and THE FAMILY THAT PREYS, PROUD MARY, THINK LIKE A MAN, TALK TO ME opposite Don Cheadle, SMOKIN’ ACES with Ben Affleck and Alicia Keys, HURRICANE SEASON opposite Forest Whitaker, NO GOOD DEED opposite Idris Elba, LARRY CROWNE with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, TAKEN FROM ME, and THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON with Brad Pitt, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Henson also lent her voice to Disney’s RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: WRECK IT RALPH 2. In 2019, Henson starred in Paramount’s WHAT MEN WANT from director Adam Shankman, and THE BEST OF ENEMIES opposite Sam Rockwell. Following the finale of EMPIRE in 2020, she was seen starring in the Netflix film COFFEE & KAREEM with Ed Helms. In 2022, she will be heard lending her voice to MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU. In 2019, Henson received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In Fall 2020, Henson announced her production company TPH Entertainment, which has a first-look deal with Twentieth Century Fox TV. The agreement with Fox will include projects for multiple platforms. In October 2016, Henson released her New York Times bestselling novel “Around The Way Girl,” a memoir about her family and friends, her determination to make it to Hollywood, and the importance of living your own truth. In Fall 2018, she launched the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in honor of her late father. The organization provides scholarships to African-American students majoring in mental health, offers mental health services to youth in urban schools, and works to lower the recidivism rates of African-American men and women. Henson, along with her best friend and foundation partner, Tracie Jade, recently co-hosted the Facebook Watch series on mental health called PEACE OF MIND WITH TARAJI, for which they received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for “Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host.”