Rhonda Lyon In Memoriam | Season 3 | EMPIRE
The relationship between Taraji P. Henson and her Empire persona of Cookie is a complicated one if only because while Henson has been nominated three times for her work as Best Actress in a Drama, she feels like her best skills lie in comedy.
READ MORE:Taraji P. Hensons Empire Highlight Reel Has to Be Seen to Be Believed
I come to drama from a comedy background, she told IndieWire during the Television Critics Association press tour. And from her point of view, thats what not only fuels her, but many other comedians as well as they explore the boundary between laughter and pain.
Its a boundary that Henson has explored a great deal thanks to the Empire sets openness to ad-libbing which shes been able to keep going on other projects, such as the upcoming awards season contender Hidden Figures, in which she plays a 1960s mathematician, a role that she found to be the polar opposite of Cookie.
Of course, the power of Cookie cannot be denied even if Season 2 skimped on the hats. Dont worry. Below, Henson promises to fix that.
From the beginning of the series, I was a huge fan of Cookies hats
She hasnt been doing many hats! The second season I had that Le Snob hat, and I had a face veil.
That was cool.
But I dont think I tried on one hat this year. Hey, you know what, Ill bring that up to [costume designerPaolo Nieddu]. More hats.
As a character detail, what does a great accessory like that give you?
It helps with my character. I mean I lovewhenPaulothrows meprops. I love to work with props. Ive never been afraid to work with props. I was Prop Mistress in college.
[Nieddu]gave me those Le Snob glasses that flip up and down were such a great tag team because h**l give me something: Honey, I know youll work it into the scene. So h**l give me like a fabulousJudithLeiberbagand Ill like fiercely put it downwith a nail, or,you know, flip the glasses down, or walk in with the shades and take them.
Taraji P. Henson in Empire.
Chuck Hodes/FOX
I know there are some actors who cant stand watching themselves on camera.
I used to be like that. I cant watch myself during the process, but its easier to do now with social media, because its like youre watching with the audience, you know? So its not me sitting there like oh G*d, why did you turn this way? Why did you do your eyes like that? Why did you say it like that? You know what I mean? So I have the distraction of the real world to go, okay, you did hit that beat, theyre picking it up, I see theyre tweeting that line, oh my G*d that ad-lib worked. It gets me out of my head, to watch it with an unbiased audience.
Ive heard you speak before about how you really value the ability to be able to ad-lib, and you said that it comes from being in a safe environment. Was that something that happened right away, or did the world of Empire start feeling safe over a period of time?
It felt that way from the beginning. It felt that way when I went to read with Terrence for Lee and Danny. It just, thats how it started. They just let me go. I mean, thats how Boo Boo Kitty was born. That was in the pilot. That was like one of the first scenes we shot and it just came out and they were like, Were gonna keep it! Were gonna keep it! So the more they kept saying, Were gonna keep it, I was like, You wanna keep this too? You know? Its just good to play. I dont do it a lot, I only do it when its called for, because you dont want to have a scene full of ad-libs then wheres the scene going? It has to be its like comedic, the timing has to be right and if youre not feeling it, chances are you shouldnt ad-lib. [laughs]
Do you feel like youve gotten to do a lot of comedy?
Thats my strongest talent. I did a lot of musical theater in college, and thats a lot of comedy, a lot of timing. And thats really my strong suit I think. But also, in having said that, Ive noticed growing up in my life Ive watched a lot of comedians and they were able to transition into dramatic roles gracefully. Because comedians deal with pain thats why theyre so cynical, thats why they can laugh at each other. At themselves. Because the world has been throwing rocks at them all their lives, so now theyve turned those rocks into something funny, you know? So their pain is layered. When they play these dramatic roles, they can bring you those highs and lows because theyve had that comedic timing.
And to me they make better dramatic actors, so, I come [at]drama from a comedy background. Not that I did standup a lot, I was just great and gifted in the comedic timing. Just in life. Just the way I tell stories with friends, you know? So I think thats really where my talent lies. I have yet to be able to really do a comedy butwell get to it.
What kind of comedy would you like to do?
I mean, not the comedy where youre like HERE COMES THE JOKE! YOU READY? CATCH IT! More like situational things. Just comedy happening out of real life situations. Like the Judd Apatow films, you know its not really setting up the jokes, its just out of these circumstances you laugh. I try to bring a lot of the comedy elements to Cookie. I want to make her a multi-dimensional character, as we all are as humans. Were not one dimension. There are layers, we keep pulling back the onion. The layers of the onion, you know.
Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson in Empire.
Chuck Hodes/FOX
I feel like a lot of time, actors talk about characters coming from themselves as a person. Do you feel that Cookie is a separate entity from yourself?
Oh, absolutely. Like, I mean, I grew up in the hood, I didnt sell drugs. You know, I chose another path. I chose education, you know, working. I see the pitfalls, I can understand why her back, her and Lucius, their backs was against the wall. They were young parents, you know it happened. Um they had no education, you know, they made the best they could with the cards dealt to them, you know? And coming from the hood I remember when crack got dropped off I remember entire families being destroyed. I grew up in a broken home. And now Im looking at my friend who had both parents at home now crack is here, theyre divorced, and living in the street. Yall are homeless what? I remember that era, so things like that I was able to pull and draw from to make her real. But shes totally different from me. I cant go around flying off the handles saying what I want to say, I would get railed for it (laughs). So shes actually my Sasha Fierce, my alter ego.
At some point, one presumes, Empire will end. Do you feel like it will be hard to transition from this to a completely different character?
No. Ive been doing it. I have a movie coming out [Hidden Figures] its very important for me because Im an artist, Im a character actor, so its very important for me to keep my instrument working. Lubed up, if you will. And so whenever Im not doing Cookie, I race to something thats the polar opposite of her, and I couldnt get more polar opposite than a mathematician. I mean shes literally glassesshe doesnt say muchhappy about her math, you know?
Was there room for ad-libbing on that side?
Its a different way of ad-libbing. Its not boisterous and loud. Theres one part that I saw of the trailer, a scene with myself, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer, where my characters first meeting her next husband to be. Theyre being introduced for the first time and we ad-libbed this whole thing about Oh my G*d, whys he looking, whys he coming over here? And shes like, Im gonna go get some pie, and I said, You already have pie, Dorothy. It was cute little moments like that, but they allowed for it.
Empire Season 3 premieres Wednesday at 9pm on Fox.
Stay on top of the latest TV news! Sign up for our TV email newsletter here.
Source: http://www.indiewire.com/2016/09/taraji-p-henson-interview-empire-cookie-1201728880/
No comments:
Post a Comment