Taraji P. Henson has shared more candid comments about Black actors being undervalued.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, the actress revealed she and the cast of The Color Purple were initially told to drive themselves to set in rental cars, instead of being assigned drivers and security.
“They gave us rental cars, and I was like, ‘I can’t drive myself to set in Atlanta.’ This is insurance liability, it’s dangerous. Now they robbing people,” she said. “What do I look like, taking myself to work by myself in a rental car? So I was like, ‘Can I get a driver or security to take me?’ I’m not asking for the moon.”
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Henson didn’t reveal who she expressed her concerns to, but she did share what they said.
“They’re like, ‘Well, if we do it for you, we got to do it for everybody.’ Well, do it for everybody! It’s stuff like that, stuff I shouldn’t have to fight for. I was on the set of Empire fighting for trailers that wasn’t infested with bugs,” she explained.
The Color Purple debuted in the U.S. on Christmas Day. The Warner Bros. film doesn’t open overseas until the end of the month. Henson said Hollywood still clings to the old saying that movies with Black casts don’t sell abroad.
“With Black films, they just don’t want to take us overseas and I don’t understand that. Black translates all over the world, so why wouldn’t the movies? I have a following in China of all places. Y’all not going to capitalize on that? Don’t everybody want to make money here? I’m not the person that pulls the race card every time, but what else is it, then? Tell me. I’d rather it not be race, please give me something else,” she said.
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Henson noted that she’s an Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning performer, yet she still had to audition for The Color Purple. She said director Blitz Bazawule handpicked her to play sultry singer Shug Avery, but the studio wasn’t convinced.
“Oftentimes in the industry, you can be the director’s choice but not the studio’s, so I had to audition. I had to check my ego because I was like, ‘Why am I auditioning?’ I mean, I get the singing, because there’s nothing out there that shows me singing like that. But I had to sing, dance, and they read me. I was like, ‘Ouch,'” she said.
Henson isn’t the only cast member from The Color Purple to speak out about issues with the production.
During a recent Q&A with the cast and producers, hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, Danielle Brooks revealed the actors weren’t given dressing rooms or food when they arrived for rehearsals. She praised Taraji for being a “guide” for the rest of the cast, and contacting producer Oprah Winfrey about the problems.
“She had no idea,” Henson said, pointing to Winfrey.
“She didn’t know what was going on, and she corrected it,” Brooks added about Winfrey.
“I’ve done a lot of TV shows. I’ve done a lot of films, specifically independent films, but this is my first studio film. So sometimes you do come in and say, ‘Well, I’m just going to take whatever they give me. I’m just happy to be here,'” Brooks said.
Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones co-produced the film with Winfrey. Henson told The Times Winfrey was in her corner, but the actress said she’s tired of fighting these battles in Hollywood.
“It hurts my feelings when it’s not reciprocated, but I know this world is cold and nobody really cares, and you got to go out and fight for what you want,” she said. “What else do I need to do to prove my worth? Now that I’m singing and dancing for you, and I climbed up on the table 88 times with my knobby knees and had to ice my knees in between takes, what else do I need to do?”
Henson’s comments follow an interview she did in December with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, when she said she walked away from an Empire spinoff and fired her reps.
“All they wanted was another Cookie show. I said, ‘I’ll do it, but it has to be right. She’s too beloved for y’all to f–k it up,’” the actress said. “So, when they didn’t get it right, I was like, ‘Well, that’s it.’ Then they had nothing else.”
She added, “Everybody had to f—king go. Where is my deal? Where’s my commercial? Cookie was at the top of the fashion game. Where is my endorsement? What did you have set up after this? That’s why you all haven’t seen me in so long. They had nothing set up.”
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