I'm not a selfish actor. I believe that it's a team effort. You're not in a scene by yourself.
Taraji P. HensonWhen 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.
Taraji P. HensonWhen I was growing up, no one ever said to me, "You cannot do math because you're a girl." But, there was an understanding growing up that math and science were for boys. Somebody lied to me because Katherine Johnson woman exists, all of these women existed.
Taraji P. HensonThere is always going to be love versus hate; we struggle with that as humans within ourselves every day; as a society, we have to struggle. So when you wake up, you have to decide which side you're going to be on. Hopefully, that side is positive, so you do the work and hope that your legacy will help change things.
Taraji P. HensonWhen 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!
Taraji P. Henson