Taraji P. Henson Once Shared She Was Scared of Doing ‘Empire’
Actor Taraji P. Henson’s Empire character Cookie Lyon quickly became so iconic that there were talks of her getting her own spin-off. But although playing Cookie did wonders for Henson’s career, it was also the most terrifying role Henson had ever done at one point.
Why Taraji P. Henson decided to do ‘Empire’ despite her fears
It took no time at all for Empire’s Cookie to become one of television’s most popular characters at the show’s peak. Cookie was just as complex of a role as Luscious Lyon, who was famously played by Henson’s co-star and love interest, Terrence Howard. Henson, who earned two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe for her performance, proved to audiences she was a perfect fit for the role. It turned out that the show’s creator, Lee Daniels, felt the same way. It took the Hidden Figures star only seconds to convince Daniels to cast her in the series when she auditioned.
“About 30 seconds into Taraji being Cookie, Lee whispered to me, ‘She’s Cookie right?’” Empire producer Danny Strong once recalled in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Henson might’ve wanted to star in Empire for several reasons. But one of her biggest and most surprising motivations behind doing the show was how much it scared her. Empire would be unlike anything she’d ever done.
“Oh, the project scared me and so did Cookie,” she once told Assignment X. “And I found that I like to be challenged. So I took it on. If the work doesn’t scare me, then I don’t do it.”
Going into further detail about her fears, Henson confided that she thought the show’s themes might make her audiences as uncomfortable as they made her. But in a good way.
“Well, the subject matter and the way we handle it,” she said. “We don’t cover it up, we don’t make it pretty, it’s very honest and gritty and it will probably ruffle feathers and piss people off. But isn’t that what art’s supposed to do?”
She even considered the series a riskier television show than Person Of Interest, a sci-fi procedural where she played a New York detective.
“Person Of Interest was a different way of doing a procedural, but we’ve seen it. This we haven’t seen – we just haven’t seen this kind of television on primetime on network. The reason why I keep saying that is the subject matter and the way that we’re dealing with it,” she said.
What would’ve made Taraji P. Henson leave ‘Empire’
Empire managed to last for six seasons. Although some feel the show might’ve dipped in quality in its later years, others believed it maintained its storytelling. Henson stayed on Empire during its entire run, partially thanks to the show’s ability to keep Cookie interesting. In a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Henson joked that Cookie’s fashion sense kept the character entertaining.
“I guess what keeps it fresh for me is the wardrobe. I love to see what Cookie’s going to wear. I love the family, I love the people I work with, I love the crew so it’s just an exciting job to have, really. There’s really no drama on set — everybody gets along, so it’s a great job to have and to be going into season four like this? It’s amazing. That’s what’s exciting,” she said.
However, as much as she enjoyed the show, there were a few errors Empire could’ve made that could’ve convinced Henson to leave early. But seeing as she stayed until it ran its natural course, it’s clear that the series avoided those mistakes. She was even confident that the character would live on long after the show’s finale.
“I’m here until it’s all over. Until I start feeling like the storylines are suffering then I’m going to have an issue, but as long as they give me good stuff to do, I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “I don’t know where that rumor’s coming from.… That would be goofy for me to walk away.”
