Taraji P. Henson to Play Civil Rights Activist in The Best of Enemies
Taraji P. Henson isn’t getting stuck in an Empire state of mind. The 44-year-old actress will time travel to the civil rights era for The Best of Enemies, depicting activist Ann Atwater’s decade-long battle with a KKK leader. The script is based on Osha Gray Davidson’s book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South; first-time director Robin Bissell will auteur.
While joining the civil rights struggle on screen is a long way from Empire’s quote-monster, Cookie, Henson recently shared another drastically varied role that she couldn’t quite pull. While you’ve probably already seen Taraji’s multiple-flame-emoji W magazine cover shoot, she was equally as revealing in the interview, telling of her aspirations to play lead in Precious. (The role, of course, became Gabourey Sidibe’s breakthrough.)
“Lee [Daniels] wanted me for the thin, pretty teacher in Precious,” she reveals. “And I was like, ‘Well, I want to play Precious—because that’s the role in this piece.’ Lee thought I was nuts. I was like, ‘Look, they turned Charlize Theron into a monster! I could be this girl!’ When I think about that now, it was such a Cookie move.”
Rihanna to Launch Fashion Line $CHOOL KIlls
In duh move of the week, style icon Rihanna is launching her own fashion line, inspirationally titled $CHOOL KIlls. Reports reveal that Rih Rih will start off with accessories, totes and purses before going all out with clothing. Could that mean she’s slowing down with her music, though? “Rihanna has already had a successful clothing line with River Island and is not limiting herself to just music and touring for the rest of her life,” a source told Grazia. “She will continue to release singles and albums, but she’s had plans in place to expand in other areas like fashion, for a good few years now… She still loves the music, and it’s what launched her, but this is her focus right now.”
Pharrell Hints at Adele Collaboration on Her Comeback LP
It’s been four years since Adele’s gargantuan Grammy winner 21, and the UK singer is going to hitmaker Pharrell for her comeback project. If she only could press pause on doing mom stuff. “I’ve seen her recently,” P says of the 27-year-old songstress. “She’s kinda like, ‘Okay, guys, I’m gonna open my diary for 20 minutes.’ So it’s like, Okay, you have 20 minutes, or 32 minutes really. Then she gives it to you and closes it up and disappears, and she’s off with her beautiful boy—and that’s what it’s all about.” Still, a new album, reportedly titled 25, is on the way. As for Skateboard P, he’s serving Apple Music with his next single “Freedom,” the streaming service’s first exclusive song, on opening day: next Tuesday, June 30.
