Taraji

Don’t think life should be easy and you won’t be crushed by setbacks: That guiding belief has allowed Taraji P. Henson, whose early life was anything but easy, to use hurdles as motivation to keep moving forward. Listen in as she reveals what’s behind her unstoppable resilience.

- Lori Berger

Taraji P. Henson is, quite amazingly, snuggled on a couch grabbing a catnap at REDBOOK’s cover shoot, oblivious to the pumping music and 20-plus people whizzing around her. When I tiptoe past, I spot two tattoos: a short phrase on her inner arm and a tiny heart with a name next to it on her wrist. A week later, when we meet at her publicist’s office to chat, she gives me a closer look at them and two other tattoos. The phrase spells out The Truth, which the 46-year-old actress says defines the way she has chosen to live her life. On her lower back is a phoenix rising from the ashes, a symbol of the struggles she has overcome; a pair of pretty angel wings on her back shoulder is a grateful reminder of the freedom she has found. Finally, next to the heart on her wrist is her 22-year-old son’s name, Marcell. As Taraji explains her ink—and her often-precarious path from childhood in a dangerous Washington, DC, neighborhood to superstar actress—I realize that the same character trait that allowed her to snooze soundly at the photo studio is also what underlies her success. She has an uncanny ability to tune out the inner voice we all have that whispers “Not possible,” about everything from sleeping through chaos to realizing an unlikely dream.

A little taste of her superpower at work: In 1996, the newly minted college grad moved to Los Angeles with $700 in her pocket, a baby on her hip, and no plan besides “Make it as an actress.” By Hollywood’s standard of “making it”—the number of major award recognitions you’ve received— she has. So far, she’s been nominated for an Oscar, for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and three Emmys, two of them for her role as the deliciously devious Cookie Lyon on Fox’s smash hit Empire, for which she also won a Golden Globe.