Taraji P. Henson: podcast appearances and interviews

Taraji Penda Henson, born on September 11, 1970, is an American actress, producer, author, and mental health advocate. She studied acting at Howard University and made her film debut in the 1998 crime film Streetwise. Henson gained recognition for roles such as a prostitute in Hustle & Flow and Queenie, a nursing home caretaker, in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Her portrayal of Katherine Johnson in Hidden Figures earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She has appeared in films including Baby Boy, The Karate Kid, Think Like a Man, Acrimony, What Men Want, The Best of Enemies, and The Color Purple. Henson has also built an extensive television career, notably co-starring as Joss Carter in the CBS series Person of Interest from 2011 to 2013. From 2015 to 2020, she starred as Cookie Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama and receiving Emmy nominations in 2015 and 2016. Her other Emmy-nominated work includes the Lifetime movie Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story and a guest role in the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary. In addition to her acting career, Henson authored the autobiography Around the Way Girl in 2016, which became a New York Times bestseller. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016 and 2024.