Taraji P. Henson Quotes - Page 2

If I feel like I've reached this greatness in my career than there's no more room for growth. I don't think I'm ever going to get there. If I ever get complacent, it's time for me to bow out.

If I were to meet the most incredible man, and he just so happened to not make as much money as I do, I wouldn't hold it against him.

I would love to play a superhero. I wish I could be in 'The Avengers,' kicking butt.

Katherine Johnson passion for math, the way I light up when I get asked questions about acting is the way her eyes danced when she talked about math and how she wanted people to fall in love with numbers the way that she did. If I had a teacher like that, I could have been a rocket scientist.

Sometimes you have to say the words exactly how they are on the page, but sometimes when you improv, it only helps to get across what's on the page, and I just love working with directors who allow that.

Improvisation helps because you get what's on the page and you make it a little more palatable to your tongue. And that's the beauty of creating and being spontaneous. That's the way I love to work.

Katherine Johnson never complained, it just was what it was. She just said, "I just wanted to go to work and do my numbers." And she stopped right there. I think about that as a Black woman in Hollywood when I'm asked about diversity. I hate when people say diversity because the first thing you jump to is Black and white. When you talk about diversity, you're talking about women being hired in front of and behind the camera. You are talking about people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community...so I hate when people think about diversity.

I like to disappear in my roles because I don't have an assistant.

I'm really silly. That's the thing that people don't get. I think I'm a stronger comedic actress than I am a dramatic actress. I'm not really pigeonholed, but I'm known for drama. I do comedy so easily, and people relate to my humor. I'll be glad because I don't have to stay sexy and young forever. I don't care if I'm big, as long as I'm funny.

When I get that question, about diversity, I don't go, "Yeah, well you know they don't pay me." That's not my story. I own six properties; Hollywood has been damn good to me. Now you can ask me, "Have they paid you what you deserve?" That's the question, but you'd have to go to the studios, I don't know. I do the work!

I just hate when things get labeled as "black movies." I don't say, "Oh, this weekend, I want to see an all-white movie," or "I want to see a black movie." I just go to a movie because I saw the previews and I relate to it. I want to see it because the previews look interesting.

When you are portraying a person that is very real, in my case, Katherine Johnson is still alive, she is 98-years old; there is a responsibility to get it right. I guess the biggest thing that I took away from Katherine was her humility. When you talk about superheroes there are selfless, they don't think about themselves, they put humanity first.

I don't think a living being should suffer for the sake of fashion, period. End of story. You don't have to kill an animal just because you want to be hot and fly. And I really stand by that.

I've been doing a lot of drama, but I feel like comedy is my strength.

I like to be home with my son, kickin' it and watching ESPN, a very normal life. I like to take him to school every day, watch his games.

Something happens to a woman when she can't reproduce. I've not had to walk that path, but I can only imagine when your organs don't work and how that could make you feel.

I'm not a selfish actor. I believe that it's a team effort. You're not in a scene by yourself.

I'm always the cousin that can't make it to the family functions because I'm busy.

When I come home, it's about my kid, who needs to eat, needs to do homework, and needs to get to basketball. I don't have a lot of time to think about me.

So much could go wrong on a date. What if he turns out to be a jerk? [You need] A back-up plan, just in case he doesn't work out, you can move on to the back-up plan.

When I go home to visit, they never treat me like a celebrity. They still treat me like TJ. If I leave dishes in the sink, they'll let me know.

With camera phones and, you know, iPad's and cameras at stoplights, it's like I just want to drive around with a bag on my head because I just feel like everyone's watching.

I'm always talking to the writers because I find it so fascinating, how they're able to go to these different levels with the different stories, and have all these layers to peel back.

I would have to say movies are my favorite. I love doing TV, too, but it's always rush, rush, rush. With a feature film, those moments and scenes get a chance to breathe, because you don't have to accomplish as much in one day.

In my mind I'm like, "No, Katherine Johnson it was you. It was your mind alone that got John Glenn to orbit the earth." He didn't say, "Go get so in so." He said, "Go get that smart girl." But that fact that that she sees the "we" in "I," blew me away.