Taraji P. Henson

By  | August 13, 2008 @ 01:00 pm

For her performance in Craig Brewer's Hustle & Flow, Taraji P. Henson was named Best Supporting Actress by the Black Movie and Black Reel Awards, and Best Actress by the BET Awards; and also earned a double MTV Movie Award and NAACP Image Award nominations. She made her singing debut in the film; was featured on the original motion picture soundtrack; and performed the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" at the Academy Awards, where it won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Ms. Henson's breakout screen role was in John Singleton's Baby Boy, and she reteamed with the director on the hit Four Brothers (which also starred Chiwetel Ejiofor of Talk to Me). She was most recently seen in Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces (starring as part of the ensemble cast) and Sanaa Hamri's Something New (also for Focus Features, and which also starred Mike Epps of Talk to Me).

She starred for three years on the dramatic television series The Division. Her telefilm credits include Anthony Shaw's Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man (with Angela Lansbury and Phylicia Rashad); Jeffrey Byrd's Book of Love; and Christopher Leitch's Satan's School for Girls. She has made guest appearances on such shows as ER, CSI, One on One, and House; and starred opposite Common in his music video "Justified."

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ms. Henson is a graduate of Howard University. She is currently filming David Fincher's long-awaited The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.