(L-R) Tyler Perry and Taraji P. Henson are seen backstage at the 2019 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/VMN19/Getty Images for BET)
*Taraji P. Henson credits Tyler Perry for helping her get paid her worth in Hollywood.
Henson explained during a conversation in 2019 with actress Ellen Pompeo for Variety’s “Actors On Actors” series that Perry was the first studio boss to pay her a half million dollars for a role.
“I think the industry knew I was talented. But it’s about money. Are you bankable? I had to continuously prove that. I’ve been trying to prove and improve. I was asking for half a million. I didn’t get paid that until I did my first Tyler Perry film,” she said. “I was never in a position where I could not take a job; by the grace of God, they have all been really good characters. But it was never a situation where I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ Now, I’m finally there twenty years later.”
Henson said she is finally in a place where she can demand her worth but acknowledged that wage inequality in Hollywood remains a pressing issue.
READ MORE: Taraji P. Henson Admits She’s Ready to Leave U.S. Due to Racism
“It’s not going to change until privilege reaches across the table and helps,” Henson explained at the time. “That’s the only way it changes. Otherwise, we’re playing a rerun.”
Henson starred in Perry’s “The Family That Preys” and “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.”
Meanwhile, as EUR’s Yolanda Baruch previously reported…Henson spoke facts when she said Black women need to abandon the adjective “strong” when describing themselves. Considering how BW are treated in relationships, places of employment, and when seeking medical care, she is entirely correct. Watch the Instagram video below.
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