Early life and education

Henson was born in southeast Washington, D.C., the daughter of Bernice Gordon, a corporate manager at Woodward & Lothrop, and Boris Lawrence Henson, a janitor and metal fabricator. Her first and middle names are of Swahili origin, "Taraji" meaning hope and "Penda" meaning love. According to a mitochondrial DNA analysis, her matrilineal lineage can be traced to the Masa people of Cameroon. She says that North Pole explorer Matthew Henson is "the brother of my great-great grandfather."

Henson graduated from Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, in 1988. She then attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University where she studied electrical engineering before transferring to Howard University to study drama. To pay for college, she worked mornings as a secretary at The Pentagon and evenings as a singing-dancing waitress on a dinner-cruise ship, the Spirit of Washington.

Career

Film

Henson's breakthrough role was in the 2001 comedy drama film Baby Boy which she portrayed Yvette, alongside singer Tyrese Gibson.

In 2005, Henson was in the independent film Hustle & Flow as Shug, the love interest of Terrence Howard, who portrayed the male lead DJay. The film was nominated for two Academy awards, winning one. In 2008, she appeared opposite Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Henson plays the role of Queenie, Benjamin's mother, in a performance that led to an Academy award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She noted in an interview that, "Queenie is the embodiment of unconditional love."

Henson was in Tyler Perry films The Family That Preys in 2008 and I Can Do Bad All By Myself in 2009. In 2010, she appeared in the remake of The Karate Kid alongside Jaden Smith. The film was a commercial success.

In 2011, she starred as Tiffany Rubin in the Lifetime Movie Network film Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story. The film was based on true events of the life of a New York woman Tiffany Rubin, whose son Kobe was abducted by his biological father to South Korea. Determined to bring her son back home, she is helped by an organization for lost children which his headed by Mark Miller, portrayed by Terry O'Quinn, and with a plan they are able bring her son back home. Henson's portrayal as Tiffany Rubin received positive reviews which earned her several award nominations including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.

In 2012, Henson was in the large ensemble cast film Think Like A Man, which was based on Steve Harvey's 2009 book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. Henson reprised her role in the film's sequel Think Like a Man Too, which was released in June 2014.

Television

Henson has guest-starred on several television shows, such as the WB Television Network's Smart Guy, playing the role of Mo'Nique (1997-98); the Fox series House in 2005; and CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2006. She also starred on an episode of Sister, Sister.

Henson has also been a cast member on several television shows, including Lifetime Television's The Division and ABC's Boston Legal for one season. Her recurring appearances in television include the character Angela Scott on ABC's Eli Stone in December 2008. In 2011, Henson was cast in the CBS crime-suspense series Person of Interest. In the Person of Interest November 20, 2013 episode "The Crossing", after co-starring for two and a half years, Henson's character Carter was killed as part of the series' new storyline direction.

In February 2014, several months after her last episode of Person of Interest aired on CBS, Henson was hired by Fox to star in the new TV series pilot Empire, a musical drama set in the hip hop recording industry. Henson plays Cookie Lyon opposite former Hustle & Flow costar Terrence Howard. Fox ordered the pilot to series in May 2014 and the TV series debuted on January 7, 2015 with positive reviews from critics and wide commercial success. Her work as Cookie Lyon gave her widespread recognition and critical acclaim. In July 2015, Henson was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she submitted show's Pilot for Emmy voting. In January 2016, Henson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama for Empire becoming only the third African American actress to take home the award after Gail Fisher (1972) and Regina Taylor (1992).

Other work

Henson made her singing debut in Hustle & Flow; she provided the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2006, giving Three 6 Mafia the distinction of becoming the first African American hip-hop act to win in that category. Henson performed the song at the live Oscar ceremony on March 5, 2006, with the group. Additionally, she performed the song "In My Daughter's Eyes" on the 2006 charity album Unexpected Dreams - Songs From the Stars.

Henson has made several appearances in music videos and television. For example, she starred in the rapper Common's music video "Testify" in 2005 as the wife of a soon to be convicted murderer. She also appeared in Tyrese Gibson's music video Stay as his love interest.

On March 16, 2015, she was a guest co-host on Live! with Kelly and Michael filling in for regular co-host Kelly Ripa.

Personal life

Henson became pregnant during her junior year of college, and gave birth in 1994 to her son, Marcel Johnson. The father of her son, her high-school sweetheart William Lamar Johnson, was murdered in 2003.

Controversy

In 2014, Henson said her son had been racially profiled by police and that his car had been illegally searched during a traffic stop that October 18 in Glendale, California. A video obtained by the Los Angeles Times showed Johnson had driven through a lighted crosswalk while a pedestrian was crossing, given verbal consent to search his vehicle, and admitted to smoking marijuana two hours before driving. Hashish oil and marijuana were found inside his car. Forty minutes after the video was made public, Henson said in an Instagram message, "I would like to publicly apologize to the officer and the Glendale Police Department. A mother's job is not easy and neither is a police officer's."

Activism

A supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Henson in January 2011 appeared nude in an ad for the I'd Rather Be Naked Than Wear Fur campaign.

Henson joined PETA again for a 2013 campaign stating "Be an Angel for Animals". In the ad Henson poses with her family dog Uncle Willie. The ad highlights the issue that, "Chained dogs suffer day in and day out. They are cold, hungry, thirsty, vulnerable, and lonely. Keep them inside, where it's safe and warm."

In February 2015, Henson posed in an ad for the NOH8 Campaign, which supports the LGBT community.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	Left-Wing Student
2000	Satan's School for Girls	Paige
2001	Baby Boy	Yvette
2002	Enough	Anna Hiller
2002	Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs	Date #4/Ghetto Girl
2004	Hair Show	Tiffany
2005	Hustle & Flow	Shug
2005	Four Brothers	Camille Mercer
2005	Animal	Ramona
2006	Something New	Nedra
2007	Smokin' Aces	Sharice Watters
2007	Talk to Me	Vernell Watson
2008	The Family That Preys	Pam Evans
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Queenie
2009	Not Easily Broken	Clarice Clark-Johnson
2009	Hurricane Season	Dayna Collins
2009	I Can Do Bad All By Myself	April Jones
2010	Date Night	Detective Arroyo
2010	The Karate Kid	Sherry Parker
2010	Peep World	Mary
2010	Once Fallen	Pearl
2011	The Good Doctor	Nurse Theresa
2011	Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story	Tiffany Rubin
2011	Larry Crowne	B'Ella
2011	Laugh at My Pain	Taraji
2011	From the Rough	Catana Starks
2012	Think Like a Man	Lauren Harris
2013	Madly Madagascar	Okapi	Voice role
2014	Think Like a Man Too	Lauren Harris
2014	No Good Deed	Terri Granger
2014	Top Five	Herself
2016	Term Life	Samantha Thurman
2017	Hidden Figures	Katherine Johnson	Filming

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1997-1998	Smart Guy	Mo'Nique	3 episodes
1999	Sister, Sister	Leslie	Episode: "Two's Company"
1998	ER	Elan	Episode: "Split Second"
2001	Murder She Wrote: The Last Free Man	Bess Pinckney	Movie
2002-2004	The Division	Inspector Washington	14 episodes
2004	All of Us	Kim	Episode: "In Through the Out Door"
2005	House	Moira	Episode: "Spin"
2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Christina	Episode: "I Like to Watch"
2007-2008	Boston Legal	Whitney Rome	17 episodes
2008	Eli Stone	Angela Scott	3 episodes in season 2
2010	The Cleveland Show	Chanel Williams (voice)	Episode: "Brotherly Love"
2011-2013 2015	Person of Interest	Detective Jocelyn "Joss" Carter	55 episodes
2014	Season Of Love	Jackie	Lifetime movie
2015-present	Empire	Cookie Lyon	Main role
2015	Saturday Night Live	Herself/host	April 11 episode
2015	Live! with Kelly and Michael	Herself/co-host	March 16 episode
2016	Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade	Ethel (voice)	Special

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Association	Category	Result	Ref.
2001	Baby Boy	Black Reel Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
2005	Hustle & Flow	BET Awards	Best Actress	Won
		Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won
			Best Ensemble	Nominated
		Black Movie Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won
		NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Nominated
		MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance	Nominated
			Best Kiss	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Nominated
		Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
	Four Brothers	Black Reel Awards	Best Ensemble	Nominated
2007	Talk to Me	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Nominated
		Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Nominated
2008	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Austin Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Won
		BET Awards	Best Actress	Won
		NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Won
		Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Broadcast Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Houston Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		MTV Movie Awards	Best Female Performance	Nominated
		St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
			Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Nominated
2009	I Can Do Bad All By Myself	Black Reel Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
2011	Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story	BET Awards	Best Actress	Won
		NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special	Won
		Black Reel Awards	Best Actress: T.V. Movie/Cable	Won
		Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Nominated
		Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film	Nominated
2015		NAACP Image Awards	Entertainer of the Year	Won
	No Good Deed		Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Won
	Empire	BET Awards	Best Actress	Won
		Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Won
		Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Nominated
		Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Drama	Nominated
			Choice TV: Chemistry	Nominated
		Television Critics Association Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama	Nominated
2016		Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	Nominated
		Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	Won
	Empire	Shorty award	Shorty Award for Best Actress	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]