We’ve always known that there’s something special about Taraji P. Henson. Now, mainstream Hollywood has finally started to take notice of this sister. Most of us saw her first in Baby Boy, but she earned our respect with her role in Hustle & Flow. Since then, however, her film roles haven’t been anything to write home about (although she was pretty good in The Family That Preys). In the meantime, she has had some success in television with regular stints in The Division and Boston Legal. But I suspect that things will start to change for Taraji, who’s 38, if the early reviews of Brad Pitt’s new movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which opens on Christmas Day) hold true. There is even talk of an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Anyway, if you haven’t seen the trailer or heard about the movie, Pitt plays a man who is born in his eighties and ages backward. He is abandoned shortly after birth because he looks like he’s near death but is found by Taraji’s character Queenie, who takes home and raises the strange looking child as her own. Just so you know, this is an adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald story that takes place in New Orleans from 1918 to the 21st century so she won’t be featured on any songs about pimps.
Yet, Taraji has won over a number of critics according to the Gold Derby blog at the Los Angeles Times. Among them, Sasha Stone of Awards Daily, who calls Queenie “the heart of the film.” Kris Kapley from In Contention says, “Taraji P. Henson really is the heart of the piece in many ways and could find herself in the running for Best Supporting Actress.” She has also proved that she can hold her own in a movie that features heavy hitters like Pitt and Cate Blanchett. ***UPDATE; Taraji’s work in the movie has netted her a Screen Actor’s Guild AwardSAG nomination.
Now, I do admit that this movie looks a little bizarre, but I was curious after watching the trailer. And hearing that Taraji knocks it out of the park makes me want to see it even more. With such a solid performance she joins two other sisters (Sophie Okenedo of The Secret Life of Bees and Viola Davis of the soon to be released Doubt) for possible Oscar contention in the same category. They all prove that sisters can hold in down in serious cinema—they just need the chance.
Here’s the trailer for the movie:
Not so sure about the next one “Not Easily Broken” adapted from a TD Jakes book:
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December 19th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I just saw an advanced screening of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and let me tell you, Taraji P. Henson is marvelous in the movie. She emanates so much love, strength and humanity. I loved her in “Hustle and Flow” and was surprised when she didn’t get nominated for that.
To be honest, I agree with you about Taraji, Sophie and Viola but out of three I think only Viola will be nominated, and she may win. Problem is, neither Sophie nor Taraji were nominated for Golden Globes. As you probably know, the supporting actor category in the Golden Globes(unlike the film and starring actor categories)includes performances from both comedy and drama, so it tends to be a pretty good gauge of Oscar nominations.
Of course that doesn’t mean everything. Sophie’s performance in “The Secret Life of Bees” was the best of several excellent performances, including Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning. And Taraji could get a “coattail” nomination if “Benjamin Button” gets a lot of Oscar Nominations. By “coattail” It would be neat to see all three women get nominated for Oscars.
February 22nd, 2009 at 2:49 am
I know I’m late, but Taraji does a great job in _Talk to Me_ with Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor. And I had no idea she was in Button. I’ll definitely have to see it.
She has been a favorite of mine since I saw her in _BabyBoy_. Glad to see all three sisters getting acknowledgment for their work.