Taraji P. Henson Reveals Hollywood Tried to Typecast Her as a “Ghetto Baby Mama” After ‘Baby Boy’

Taraji P. Henson is opening up about how Hollywood once tried to box her in after her star-making role in 2001’s ‘Baby Boy.’

Full story below…

Sitting down with Keke Palmer on the ‘Baby, This Is Keke Palmer’ podcast, the Oscar nominee revealed that following her breakout as Yvette, she was flooded with scripts for “ghetto baby mama” characters. Recalling how studios couldn’t figure her out, she joked:

“I’m really classically trained, guys. They just couldn’t figure me out, I guess. And I think they’re still trying to.”

She also reflected on her iconic turn as Cookie Lyon in ‘Empire,’ admitting she was scared of playing the character wrong, as it could easily fall into:

“a stereotypical sassy, loudmouth Black woman, and that was never my intention. It’s always to make real people [and] breathe life into these characters, so someone out in the world can see themselves reflected in these characters I portray.”

While films like ‘Hidden Figures’ and ‘Proud Mary’ helped expand perceptions of her range, Henson stressed that it took turning down roles and fighting for herself to escape Hollywood’s narrow view of her talent.

Watch the full episode below: