We are just gorging on this Taraji P. Henson feast lately!
We hope it never ends!
The Empire star recently covered Essence looking absolutely divine, and now she’s made a totally unprecedented appearance in CR Fashion Book, baring her soul by letting us see her real hair!
Related: Taraji Has A Fan In FLOTUS!
The 45-year-old reveals that she relies on wigs and extensions while her real hair is styled in cornrows most of the time, and it wasn’t easy for her to show this side of her.
She explained:
“I wear wigs a lot, especially for photo shoots. I have this girl Kendra who braids my hair. She braids so intricately, so beautifully. So I’m trying on the clothes and the silk scarf I have on my head slips off, and I say, “Hey, look at my cornrows, aren’t they beautiful?” Bruce Weber is standing there and he goes, “We’ll shoot that.” And I go,”What? We’ll shoot what?” And he says, “We’ll shoot your hair just like that, it’s beautiful.” And part of me was like, No, no, no, NO! This is the hair no one is supposed to see. This is like behind-closed-doors hair. I feel naked. I feel like a plucked chicken├óΓé¼┬ªor a wet one. A baby chicken! But Bruce says to me, “It’s not about the hair, it’s your face.” So I just decided to trust the artist’s vision. As an actress that’s what we do. We are vulnerable every time we put our art out there. Underneath that hair is my soul, and it’s me, it’s mine.”
Taraji also addresses her recent success:
“You want to talk about real? You want to talk about the truth? I am 45 this year, and look at my career. Maybe I wasn’t here to be hot and young, but I still look hot and young. Early on, I prayed for longevity. I had to plant my feet into the earth and pray to God and say, “This is what I want.” I thought, Brace yourself, this is a man-made world. Calm your tits, this is just the ride.”
And she remembers how her dad basically predicted all of this for her!
“My dad was my champion. He’s the reason I’m an actress. I remember calling him one day, so frustrated. I was like, “I’m not getting anything.” And he said, “You asked for LONGEVITY!” and I was like, Uh, yeah Dad, I didn’t think it would take this long. After my first big role, I said, “Oh my God, Daddy, this is it.” He was like, “Do you understand that is nothing compared to what is coming for you? That sun is going to crack open and shine so bright.” He looked off in the distance and said, “You are going to be a sensation.” And I was like, “What the fuck do you see? I want to see what you see.”
He was soooo right!
See more pics with Jussie Smollett in the gallery (above)!
[Image via CR Fashion Book]