Taraji P. Henson isona mission
Taraji P. Henson has played numerous roles wherein she had to shoot a gun, but as the lead in “Proud Mary,” it’s the first time she’s a hit woman.
The “Empire” actress who made mathematics seem cool in “Hidden Figures” is now donning black leather, disguises and an an arsenal that would make John Wick proud, and is driving a Maserati to and from jobs working for an organized crime family in Boston.
Until her life is turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a hit goes bad. The film’s teasers highlight action that we haven’t seen from Henson until now, and the posters hark back to a time when blaxploitation was the new kid on the block.
Henson, an executive producer on the film, chatted about her latest endeavor of female empowerment. The conversation has been edited for space and clarity. This woman wants out of a lifestyle that she is sick of. She has a bunch of men telling her she can’t leave. Well guess what? She takes the power back. That’s the storyline, but as far as me, the actress in the game? This movie speaks to an African-American woman of a certain age carrying a film like this, even being offered a role like this — this hasn’t happened since the ’70s.
A: They don’t see the money. No one is smart enough to see the dollars in it. But they’re going to see it, though.
A: Of course, I had to channel who came before me, and that’s Pam Grier. I just made her real, I made her honest. They don’t have a lot of female hit women out there, so I had to research men, and I came across this guy called Iceman (Richard Kuklinski) who was very interesting to me. I liked him — he did horrible things — but there’s something about him that I liked.
A: Just all women trying to fight it out. It’s based on all kinds of women — women I know from the ’hood, women I know in my life, friends.