By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Taraji P. Henson is letting her reality as a working actor be known.
In a recent interview with Gayle King on SiriusXM radio to promote the film version of the musical “The Color Purple” in which Henson stars, she broke down in tears talking about her career.
Henson, who was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her role “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” said people have told her, “You work a lot.”
“I have to,” Henson explained.
“The math ain’t mathing,” she said. “And when you start working a lot, you have a team. Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone.”
“When you hear someone go, ‘Such and such made $10 million,’ that didn’t make it to their account,” she continued.
“Off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50 percent. Now (I) have $5 million,” she said. “Your team is getting 30 percent off what you gross, not after what Uncle Sam took. Now do the math.”
It all made her emotional.
“I’m only human and it seems every time I do something and I break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did,” Henson said. “And I’m just tired.”
She added, “This industry, if you let it, it’ll steal your soul, but I refuse to let that happen.”
“The Color Purple” arrives in theaters Christmas Day. Henson stars as singer Shug Avery in the film.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
