*”Empire“ star Taraji P. Henson brings the real for the July issue of Allure magazine, in which she touches on everything from “Empire” star Terrence Howard’s legal woes, and why she doesn’t date her co-stars.
The 44-year-old actress’ glam hairstyle for the Allure shoot was an homage to the legendary Diana Ross. In the issue, which hits newsstands June 30, Henson dished about her own experience doing hair as a side gig in college.
“I knew how to hustle and make money,” Henson told Allure. “We used to do wet sets. I bought a hooded dryer and I had my box of rollers. I could have gone to jail, I had no license whatsoever. But it was just my friends. They were like ‘Girl, hook me up.’”
Check out highlights from her interview below, as well as another image from her Allure shoot and behind-the-scenes video of the shoot below.
On her relationship with Howard:
“I just know him. We trust each other.”
On abuse allegations made against Howard by his ex-wives:
“Let’s pop the trunk to your life and see what’s dysfunctional and what’s bad…. At the end of the day, we’re all human, and we got flaws, and we got shit.”
On why she doesn’t date co-stars:
“I always wanted to be known for my work. Not who I dated. Not who I slept with…. I have a gift, and my gift is acting.”
“I started in the business at 26 with a kid, so I was smart enough to know reality from fantasy. I didn’t want to blur the lines. This is a job that I have to do. I cannot get caught up in it. And if I sleep with these guys, why would they want to work with me again? Why wouldn’t they? The conquest is up. Now I’m just used-up [p—y].”
“You have to stay professional. It is a business. I’m not letting no knucklehead dude come between my hard work and my money.”
On the struggle to make it big:
“I’ve had so many false starts,” says Henson. But as she puts it, “If it’s easy, what story are you going to tell? Nobody wants to hear about how easy it was. That doesn’t inspire anyone.”
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