Taraji P. Henson has had a successful Hollywood career, but the actress says it isn’t enough.
Appearing on Hoda Kotb’s Making Space podcast, the Oscar nominee looked back on starring in John Singleton’s 2001 film Baby Boy alongside Tyrese Gibson and realizing their careers would be treated differently.
“That was huge for me. I was a female lead. I was new to Hollywood,” Henson said, recalling how people predicted the movie would make her a star.
Still, Henson said she sensed that kind of overnight rise was not coming for her.
“Something sat on my heart, and it was like, ‘I don’t know that that’s gonna happen like that overnight for me,’” she said. “But I knew deep down it would for Tyrese.”
Henson said Gibson went on to land major roles in the Fast & Furious and Transformers films, while she never booked a comparable role in a franchise.
“After ‘Baby Boy,’ Tyrese booked two franchise movies, huge,” she said. “I still have not booked my franchise film. Been in the game almost 30 years. No franchise film.”
“I’m not gonna cry about it,” Henson added. “I know what it’s like now. You can’t hurt my feelings anymore because now I know there’s politics involved.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Henson said years of unequal treatment no longer surprise her. The actress is now preparing for her Broadway debut in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone opposite Cedric the Entertainer this spring.