The 'Color Purple' actress is determined to create a 'legacy' for younger actresses so that they don't have to get through the fights she and other stars of her generation endured.
- Dec 14, 2023
AceShowbiz - Taraji P. Henson is determined to create a "legacy" for black actresses. The 53-year-old star, who appears in "The Color Purple" alongside Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks and H.E.R., has always had to fight "tooth and nail" for her success, but she's now keen to support the next generation of black actresses.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Taraji explained, "Listen, I've been doing this for two decades and sometimes I get tired of fighting because I know what I do is bigger than me. I know that the legacy I leave will affect somebody coming up behind me. My prayer is that I don't want these black girls to have the same fights that me and Viola [Davis], Octavia [Spencer], we out here thugging it out. Otherwise, why am I doing this? For my own vanity? There's no blessing in that."
Taraji feels she actually has a responsibility to support younger actresses. She shared, "I've tried twice to walk away [from the business]. But I can't, because if I do, how does that help the ones coming up behind me?"
Taraji previously insisted that celebrities suffer "a lot" of everyday problems. The Hollywood star pointed out that the rich and famous are still real people, insisting they are not "superheroes."
Taraji, who has been open about her own mental health struggles, told Extra, "People think that just because celebrities, y'know, we look like we got it all together on the carpet or on the show - and yes we have money - but that we don’t have any issues. That's what they will get to see, how normal we are … A lot of the issues that you are having, we have ... Just because we are on TV does not make us superheroes."
