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Taraji P. Hensen - Film
By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist
www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook (Like Me)
Taraji
P. Henson
Ups The
Stakes In New Psycho Thriller!
Photo Courtesy
Sony/Screen Gems
 |
| Taraji P. Hensen as Terri |
Hollywood is a predictable place where actors of color are routinely
placed in a box with a limited number of roles to play that fit the box mode.
The standard excuse for this disguised discrimination is that main stream
audiences won’t support these actors in main stream roles especially in
Europe where a bulk of the money in film is made. That argument is hard to
swallow when Hip Hop/R&B is the largest selling music on earth! So the
studios are telling us that Europeans eat Black music up asking for more yet
they won’t come to see them act in films? That position doesn’t hold water
and every now and then someone will slip out of that box and prove the
naysayers wrong.
Taraji P. Henson is one of those rare actresses who crosses over the you-can’t-do-this line and hits a
homer every time she does. This veteran beauty has amassed an impressive body
of work in TV, Films and Videos. Henson garnered an Oscar nomination for her
role as Brad Pitt’s mom Queenie in “The
Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” and not only recorded “It’s Hard Out Her For A Pimp” with
rap group Three 6 Mafia but performed the song live on the Academy Awards
broadcast show where the tune won the Best Song Oscar. She is coming off of a
smash hit sequel “Think Like A Man II”
and now has a new psycho thriller out “No
Good Deed” opposite Idris Elba. Again Henson has gone into territory
where Blacks seldom get a chance to shine but she was not only up for the
challenge, but has the acting chops to back it up! Henson is not only making
headway into expanding her reach in film and TV, she is also breaking ground
on the other side of the camera as a producer. Both she and her “No Good Deeds” co-star Elba are
co-executive producers on the film as well. Henson is going full steam ahead
with her own production company to develop projects to market, promote and
expand her brand.
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| Idris Elba at your door as killer Colin Evans |
So
how did a rare chance to do a psycho-thriller come her way? Henson explains,
“Will came to me first before he was the Will Packer that we know today about
three or four years ago with “No Good
Deeds” before “Think Like A Man”
but we just couldn’t get it together. Then finally we got Idris to do it. It
was originally written for two White leads. Will found the script, brought it
to me We tried to do it with me and a leading White male but we couldn’t get
the schedule together so Will decided why not make it two African-American
leads but we got pushed back by the studio because it’s never really been
done, two African-American leads in a thriller genre.
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| Hide and seek killer style |
They got a little
nervous but we kept pushing saying no we want to do this. So they green lit
it and our schedules got messed up again and “Think Like A man” came along. Will then said I have something
else I want you to do and I said I don’t want to do “Think Like A Man” I want to do “No Good Deeds.” So I made him promise if I did “Think Like A Man” he would do “No Good Deed" next and he made to his
promise.”
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| Hensen with toddler and Mirage Moonschein as Ryan |
How
much fun was it to work with Elba who is ranked as one of sexiest hunks in
showbiz? Henson laughs, “I’ve worked with a bunch of sex symbols. I think all
of my leading men have been sex symbols in some way. I’m sexy so you have two
sexy people working together.” Because this film is the first of its kind
Henson stresses the importance of the public to support it opening this
opening weekend.
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©
2014 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM
(You
DID Hear It From Me!)
Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook (Like Me)!
