Taraji P. Henson is “still learning how to be ready” for her next major role — not on TV or the big screen but in her personal life.
The 48-year-old actress is engaged to former football star Kelvin Hayden and has said that, despite their impending wedding, she’s still not sure if she’s ready to marry her partner but that she’s learning “how to be better in a relationship” every day.
She said: “I’m still learning how to be ready. Every day I’m learning how to be better in a relationship. I just found out, in our therapy sessions, that men have fewer words than women. I didn’t know that. They run out of words. Because women are emotional, we want to talk through everything. Of course, we have more words; we’re the communicators. Kelvin, he thinks he’s a comedian. Anytime we’re in a disagreement or I’m like, ‘We need to talk about this,’ he’ll look at me and say, ‘Baby, I done ran out of words.’ He’s joking, but I’m starting to accept that it’s true.”
Before settling down with Hayden, the “Empire” star was a single mother to her son Marcell Johnson, now 24, and moved to L.A. with him when she finished college in order to pursue her dreams.
Speaking about the decision to start her acting dream despite her hardships, Henson told Playboy magazine: “In your 20s, you’re not scared. You feel invincible. I was an artist with a dream, and now that I was a mother I felt like it was do or die. Being a parent is what kept me focused. I didn’t go to the clubs, even though they say that’s how you’re supposed to network. I have common sense, and nothing about that seemed right to me. What networking happens at a club where people are inebriated? Tell me, what contracts are being signed? That’s stupid. I knew what I had to offer; I just had to find somebody to hear me. Anytime I felt scared, I’d call my dad.”
