Taraji P. Henson was offended she had to audition for “The Color Purple”: 'I had to check my ego'
"I went in there with a chip on my shoulder because I was like, 'You will never second-guess me again,'" says the Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee.
Golden Globe winner Taraji P. Henson is expressing the frustration she felt after being told that she had to audition for the new movie musical The Color Purple.
The Empire actress revealed that while the film's director, Blitz Bazawule, was on board with her starring as Shug Avery in the 2023 musical adaptation of the Alice Walker book, she still had to try out for the role because its studio required more convincing.
“Oftentimes in the industry, you can be the director’s choice but not the studio’s, so I had to audition,” she recalled in a new interview with The New York Times. “I had to check my ego because I was like, ‘Why am I auditioning?’ I mean, I get the singing, because there’s nothing out there that shows me singing like that. But I had to sing, dance, and they read me. I was like, ‘Ouch.’”
Everett Collection
Taraji P. Henson in 'The Color Purple'As a result, the Oscar nominee went into the audition determined to land the part. "I don’t even know, because at this point I’m a Golden Globe winner [for Empire] and Academy Award–nominated [for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button]. So I went in there with a chip on my shoulder because I was like, 'You will never second-guess me again.' I found a dress that was very Shug, I had did my hair up and put a flower in it, I wore a faux-fur shawl, and I went in and literally kicked the door down."
She continued, “He was like, ‘Do you need to rehearse?’ I was like, ‘No, let’s go.’”
While Henson ended up playing Shug, she said she's “really getting tired of fighting” for roles in the first place. “I’m tired of proving myself. It seems like every time I break a glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate for another job, I’m right back like I did nothing. I almost had to walk away from Color Purple.'"
Henson previously told EW that she hopes “the work and the fight and the struggle” that she’s endured will make it easier for future generations. “I was the little girl that wished and saw these women, these incredible women, [and thought,] 'I want to do that one day,’” she said. “And then you start doing it and you know how hard it is for us."
While Henson admitted that she has sometimes wanted to quit the industry, she said she ultimately persevered because she wants to prevent others from having to go through the same plight.
"I'm like, 'How can I make it different? How can I make it better?'" she said. “So that this little girl out there is like, 'I want to do that …I don't want to hear her talk about the same things that me and my sisters have been fighting for for so many years. If I'm not in a position to make it better for those coming behind me, what am I doing?"
The Color Purple is in theaters now.
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