Taraji P. Henson (born September 11, 1970) is an American actress, producer and singer. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career as guest star on several television shows before making her breakthrough in the movie Baby Boy (2001). In 2005, she starred in Hustle & Flow and played Queenie in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), for which she received an Academy Award nomination. In 2016, Time named Henson one of the 100 most influential people in the world on the annual Time 100 list. Henson also released an autobiography titled Around The Way Girl.

KNOWN FOR

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2018
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2018
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2023
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2016
The Simpsons
2017
The Daily Show
2020
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2021
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2006
Conan
2019
Saturday Night Live
2015
The View
2018
House
2005

FILMOGRAPHY

All
Movies
TV
Acting
136
Directing
3
Producing
8
2026
Why Did I Get Married Again?
as Roselyn
2026
Give Me Some Sugah
· unreleased
2026
The Masked Singer
as Self - Panelist
2025
STRAW
as Janiyah Wiltkinson
2025
Escape Room
2025
Number One on the Call Sheet
as Self
2025
My Happy Place
as Self
2025
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self
2025
Celebrity Family Feud
as Self - Contestant
2024
Where's Usher?
as Self
2024
TIME100: The World's Most Influential People
as Host
2024
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
as Vivian Thoma
2024
Today with Jenna & Sheinelle
as Self
2024
Hollywood Black
as Self (archive footage)
2023
The Color Purple
as Shug Avery
2023
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
as Self (voice)
2023
Oprah & The Color Purple Journey
as Self
2023
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie
as Victoria Vance (voice)
2023
Abbott Elementary
as Vanetta
2023
Celebrity Prank Wars
as Self
2023
Celebrity IOU
as Self
2023
The Jennifer Hudson Show
as Self - Guest
2023
Sherri
as Self - Guest
2023
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self - Guest
2023
The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige
as Self
2022
Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4
as Self
2022
Minions: The Rise of Gru
as Belle Bottom (voice)
2022
That's My Jam
as Self - Guest
2022
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self - Guest Host
2022
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
as Self - Guest
2022
RuPaul's Drag Race
as Self - Guest Judge
2022
BET Awards
as Self - Host
2021
Muppets Haunted Mansion
as The Bride
2021
Mary J. Blige's My Life
as Self
2021
Annie Live!
as Miss Hannigan
2021
A Little Late with Lilly Singh
as Self
2021
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self
2021
Legendary
as Self - Guest Judge
2021
Hart to Heart
as Self
2021
Project Runway
as Self - Guest Judge
2021
The Late Late Show with James Corden
as Self - Guest
2020
Coffee & Kareem
as Vanessa Manning
2020
Feeding America Comedy Festival
as Self
2020
American Music Awards
as Self - Host
2020
The Daily Show
as Self
2020
History 101
as Self (archive footage)
2020
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Guest
2019
The Best of Enemies
as Ann Atwater
2019
This Changes Everything
as Self
2019
What Men Want
as Alison 'Ali' Davis
2019
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
as Self
2019
The Late Late Show with James Corden
as Self
2019
Conan
as Herself
2018
Proud Mary
as Mary
2018
Acrimony
as Melinda Moore Gayle
2018
Ralph Breaks the Internet
as Yesss (voice)
2018
The Alec Baldwin Show
as Self
2018
Hot Ones
as Self
2018
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
as Self - Guest
2018
The View
as Self
2018
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self
2017
Carpool Karaoke: The Series
as Self
2017
The Simpsons
as Praline (voice)
2016
Term Life
as Samantha Thurman
2016
Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade
as Ethel (voice)
2016
Hidden Figures
as Katherine G. Johnson
2016
Entertainment Tonight
as Self
2016
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self - Guest
2015
Empire
as Cookie Lyon
2015
Lip Sync Battle
as Self
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
as Self
2015
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self
2015
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
2015
Taraji's White Hot Holidays
as Herself - Host
2015
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self - Guest
2015
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
as Self
2014
No Good Deed
as Terry
2014
Think Like a Man Too
as Lauren Harris
2014
Seasons of Love
as Jackie
2014
Top Five
as Taraji P. Henson
2014
Hollywood Game Night
as Self
2013
From the Rough
as Catana Starks
2013
Madly Madagascar
as Okapi (voice)
2013
Picasso Baby
as Self
2012
Think Like a Man
as Lauren Harris
2012
Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You
as Self
2011
The Good Doctor
as Nurse Theresa
2011
Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
as Tiffany Rubin
2011
Larry Crowne
as B'Ella
2011
Person of Interest
as Joss Carter
2011
The Talk
as Self
2010
Hurricane Season
as Dayna Collins
2010
Date Night
as Detective Arroyo
2010
Once Fallen
as Pearl
2010
The Karate Kid
as Sherry Parker
2010
Peep World
as Mary
2010
The Cleveland Show
2009
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
as April
2009
Not Easily Broken
as Clarice Clark
2009
The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button
as Self
2009
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
2008
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
as Queenie
2008
Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
as Pam
2008
Eli Stone
as Angela Scott
2007
Talk to Me
as Vernell Watson
2007
Boston Legal
as Whitney Rome
2006
Something New
as Nedra
2006
Smokin' Aces
as Sharice Watters
2006
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
as Christina
2005
Animal
as Ramona
2005
Hustle & Flow
as Shug
2005
Four Brothers
as Camille Mercer
2005
House
as Moira
2005
Half & Half
as Gabrielle
2004
Hair Show
as Tiffany
2004
All of Us
2002
Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs
as Date #4 / Ghetto Girl (as Taraji Henson)
2002
The Division
as Raina Washington
2001
Baby Boy
as Yvette
2001
Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
as Bess Pinckney
2000
Satan's School for Girls
as Paige
2000
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
as Left-Wing Student
2000
Strong Medicine
as Crystal
1999
Felicity
as Art Student
1999
Pacific Blue
as Rhonda
1998
Streetwise
as Tammy
1998
Saved by the Bell: The New Class
as Girl
1998
ER
as Patrice Robbins
1998
Felicity
as R.A. #2
1998
ER
as Elan
1998
Smart Guy
as Leslie
1997
Smart Guy
as Monique
1997
Sister, Sister
as Briana
1997
The Parent 'Hood
Sorcerority
Force