During the current press tour of the critically acclaimed movie adaptation of the Broadway musicalThe Color Purple, actressTaraji P. Henson’s emotions came to the surface regarding a very important issue. The Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee broke her silence over her life as an actress, revealing that she’s unsure if she wants to continue in the industry because she’s simply not paid her worth in Hollywood. There were no grand theatrics or over-the-top displays of emotion as Henson’s subtlety and tears were palpable enough for anyone hearing her words to realize that this has plagued her most of her career. She’s an actress at the end of her rope, and as this news spread, it was clear that she wasn’t the only one, and it’s just the case of this continuing to be a major problem in Hollywood.
Henson’s comments emerged during an interview with Gayle King on SiriusXM while promotingThe Color Purple, the remake thatsurpassed the 1985 movie on Rotten Tomatoes. As the film’s director, Blitz Bazawule, and her co-star Danielle Brooks sat alongside her, Henson teared up over Hollywood’s glaring pay disparity and how it has taken such a toll that she has even considered giving her life up as an actress:
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost. I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired. I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t math-ing. And you start working a lot, you have a team. Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. It’s a whole team behind us. They have to get paid.”
Women of Color Face a Large Pay Disparity
Henson’s words may fall on the deaf ears of some. There might be a pocket of people looking on thinking she’s getting paid more than the average person working today, and she should be grateful. Like any job, some expenses come along with making a certain amount of money. Even though Henson, with plenty ofincredible movies, has what some would believe to be a glamorous job, she’s hampered by mounting expenses associated with her profession. She has to pay taxes just like everybody else, and she has a payroll that needs to go out to her team, including a manager, publicist, etc. Once all that is factored in, she earns far less than it would appear.
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However, the problem runs deeper than that, and the glaringly obvious problem in Hollywood is that women are paid far less than their male counterparts. Now, imagine being a woman of color in the industry. That’s not to say that women like Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock may not struggle more than someone like George Clooney or Brad Pitt to get something made. Still, they possess more power than a woman of color in the industry who may be on their level in terms of accolades and box office success. Many don’t want to acknowledge the differences, but they exist, and they continue to be the symptom of a larger problem.
Speaking on Henson, she is an actress who has received several accolades during her long career. These include an Academy Award nomination for her role in David Fincher’sThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a SAG ensemble award forHidden Figures, and a Golden Globe Award along with four Primetime Emmy nominations for her time on the Fox drama seriesEmpire, the Lifetime movieTaken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story, and a guest role on the popular ABC sitcomAbbot Elementaryfor which she received an Emmy nod. She also appeared in several box office hits, includingThe Karate Kidremake, theThink Like A Manfilms, and the aforementionedHidden Figures, which was also a huge financial success on top of being an awards contender.
She has more than proven herself since emerging out of John Singleton’sBaby Boyin 2001, but if someone with all of her accomplishments still has to fight for fair pay, there is something very wrong within the industry. Henson even mentioned that it seems with every new accolade, she has to fight even harder to be treated fairly:
“It seems every time I do something and break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did, and I’m tired. What does that mean? What is that telling me? If I can’t fight for them coming up behind me then what the fuck am I doing?”
Other Women of Color in the Industry Share Henson’s Frustration
Henson’s assessment of the industry was quickly supported by other Black actors, especially the notion of having to work more and even harder to keep up. Robin Thede, who createdA Black Lady Sketch Show, took to X to agree with Henson by pointing out that actors are running an entire operation where a vast majority of their income goes to paying major expenses such as lawyers and managers:
Gabrielle Union also supported Henson and shared that she has dealt with the same issue as an actress. While agreeing with everything Henson said, she also acknowledged how the unfairness of the industry can take a toll on your mental health because you’re constantly fighting for the next generation to be treated fairly along with your own. Actress Keke Palmer also explained that the entertainment industry works just like any other industry in America because incomes are shrinking while they pick up numerous other gigs to stay afloat.
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Sadly, Henson’s frustrations are shared by many other people of color in the industry. From Halle Berry, who believes herAcademy Award win didn’t open the doorfor other black actresses, to Viola Davis and Angela Bassett, they have all commented about unfair pay and opportunities compared to their white counterparts.
Henson also spoke about when this happened to her whole negotiating forThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button. For a film budgeted between $150-167 million, Brad Pitt, in one ofhis most iconic roles, was paid $10 million, while Henson had to settle for a salary in the low six figures. Her team went in for $500,000, which was lowballed to $100,000 before they worked out a new deal for just $150,000. Henson made it clear that she believed that Pitt and Cate Blanchett, who were the first two billed performers on the project, deserved what they got but, as the third billed actress, she believed she was worth at least half a million for her work:
“I want to make this very clear. I’m not saying that Brad or Cate shouldn’t have gotten what they got. They put asses in seats, so give them their money. They deserve it. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get what they’re getting. I was just asking for half a million, that’s all. That’s it. When I was doing ' Benjamin Button', I wasn’t worth a million yet. My audience was still getting to know me. We thought we were asking for what was fair for me, at the time.”
There have been some moves to make this right within the industry, and the most prominent person leading this charge has been Tyler Perry. As a mega-producer himself, with his own production company out of Atlanta, Henson and other performers have said publicly that Perry has made it a point to pay them their worth. That being said, Perry can’t fix this problem alone, and there needs to be a larger awakening across every major production to make this right. It’s a shame when performers on Henson’s level are still fighting for scraps when they are worth so much more.
