“My whole life, I performed in front of anybody who’d listen. I got serious about it when I saw my Howard University colleagues make it. I would attend the movies and ask, ‘Is that Paula Jai Parker?’ ‘Is that Anthony Anderson?’ I realized I could do this and really make money. Even though I studied it, it seemed so far removed and I wondered if I’d be a starving theater actress.”
She continues, “We have great people to look up to; alumnae Lynn Whitfield, Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad. I went into the program with a lot hope. It was when I saw my actual peers book jobs, I told myself, ‘I can do this!’ It’s when I got really serious about it.”
When Henson first read the No Good Deed script, delivered to her by producer Will Packer, she was hooked. “I read that script and was like, whoa, especially when I read the plot twist.”
The duo discussed this film long before the Think Like a Man franchise was conceived. It’s when she co-hosted the “2010 BET Hip Hop Awards” in Atlanta with Terrence Howard, Packer committed to getting this film green lit, because “I was like Will please, when, when, when?” she shares.
Playing a devoted stay-at-home mom, Henson delves into her role of being naïve and vulnerable with ease when her husband Jeffrey (played by Henry Simmons) pacifies her with a soft kiss and soothing words before leaving home. It was the truly the calm before the storm named Colin arrives to terrorize her family.
When is Taraji vulnerable?
“I’m a very emotional creature. That’s why I am an actress, not a cop or a politician. I am really tapped into my emotions. If I feel like I want to cry, I cry. I don’t fight it. My most vulnerable is … in a relationship,” she laughs.
The Think Like a Man star says the best performance of her life is when she played the single mother card on her co-star, who didn’t think he would be able to carve out the time to do the film.
When Henson talks, Elba listens. “I said to him, ‘How dare you!’ You said you were going to do this movie. My son is going to college. I’ve put this money aside for his tuition and you’re not going to do it?’ He totally fell for it,” she jokes.
Henson has known and respected Elba for years. After seeing this film, I’m glad she went the extra mile to get him to sign on for it.
“They mentioned some other names, but we always knew it was Idris.” She adds, “We’ve been saying for years that we would find a way to work together, but it had to be something great.”
Terry falls for Colin’s ‘my car is stalled’ ploy and lets the prison escapee into her home. Elba’s real life sexy swagger takes on new meaning on screen; it’s actually menacing and disturbing. Standing 6 feet 3 inches tall to her petite 5-foot-4-inch frame, a chiseled Colin and a svelte Terry display some serious lust and chemistry. It’s her low self-esteem and his unyielding charm that makes for a potentially deadly recipe. To a predator like Colin, her diffidence is aromatic. But, he’s so swept up by her loneliness and seduced by his own narcissism, he misses the fact that she battles with wit, sans confidence. The on-screen exchanges keep you at the edge of your seat.
“Taraji is beautiful, smart and vivacious,” Elba compliments. “She’s a marvelous actor, very dedicated and completely prepared for every take. We both brought energy and performance skills, but most importantly, we both brought passion. There were no rehearsals or anything like that, so we just went at it. We have a very physical and violent fight and working that out was intense. It was like a training camp, working really long hours with no time to relax.”
The powers-that-be were a little apprehensive because a thriller of this sort has never really had two African American leads.
“I love Clint Culpepper, the president of Screen Gems. He fought for this film, even though they were trying to get him to do a comedy. He asked them to trust him. He knew the film would work,” Henson reveals.
Who better than to prove it than Henson, whose first name, Taraji, is Swahili for hope?
‘No Good Deed’ opens in theaters Friday, Sept. 12.
