‘Empire’ actress plays one tough Cookie

ON WHY she “saw” Terrence Howard as her ex when she first read the script: “There’s a level of trust. There is also a level of connection.”

LOS ANGELES—“You want Cookie’s nookie? Ditch the b****!” In such a short time, Cookie, Taraji P. Henson’s character in “Empire,” has become TV’s most popular character, whose quotable quotes are bannered in tweets, articles and Facebook. Playing the ex-wife of record mogul Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), Taraji is a sensation delivering a line like this to her former husband’s lover, as she takes off her coat to show that she’s wearing only a corset: “Anika, this is an a**!” With a slap to her rear.

Or to one of her three sons, gay Jamal, when she goes to his apartment: “For a queen, you sure do keep a messy place.”

“I woke up like this,” Taraji quipped, playfully cupping her face, looking regal in a blue dress, hair in an elegant bun, so unlike Cookie, who favors fur and animal prints. She’s prone to laughter and witty ripostes on this recent morning in West Hollywood.

Since it debuted in January, “Empire” ratings have soared—a staggering 14 million viewers in recent episodes. Created by “Precious” director Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, the episodes are also eagerly awaited for its original songs.

But the main attraction is Cookie and her politically incorrect remarks. “Boo Boo Kitty. Fake-a** Halle Berry,” Taraji repeated her character’s put-down of Lucious’ light-skinned ex-fiancée, Anika (Grace Gealey).

Not the stereotype

“Cookie can come off as stereotypical,” Taraji said, describing her approach to the character. “My job is not to play the stereotype, but play the why [behind a character]. If a person is loud, there’s always a reason. If you play the honesty of where that is coming from, people will empathize with you… instead of judging you.

“There’s a reason that Cookie is sharp all the time—it’s a survival technique. You absolutely respect her because she’s the truth. If you didn’t like her, it’s because she probably told you a truth about yourself—oooh, I hit a nerve.”

The 2009 Oscar best supporting actress nominee for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” emphasized that she’s not at all like Cookie. “There’s a lot that Cookie does that I don’t agree with. She sells drugs. I would never sell drugs or smoke crack. I’d find another way out of the hood.

“I don’t wear fur; but I don’t judge people who do. So I cannot judge Cookie for wearing fur. Cookie likes fur (laughs). Taraji has nothing to do with Cookie. This is not Taraji’s story.”

She feels blessed that this role fell on her lap. “Cookie is the role of a lifetime,” she agreed. “She really challenges me.”

TARAJI P. Henson admits: “It’s very important that I keep my sanity in this perfect storm that’s happening.” ruben v. nepales

Taraji confirmed she did ask that Terrence Howard be the one to play her ex. She explained, “For some reason, when I read the script, I saw him. I saw us. I just knew he would challenge me. We would challenge each other. When you sign on to a show that could be a hit and go on for years, you’d certainly want to work with someone that you like.

“We both have kids [of our own]. We have to pretend like we are making out so it has to be with someone that I feel comfortable working with. Terrence and I… there’s a level of trust. There is also a level of connection that Terrence and I have, that Lucious and Cookie have, like old friends. We go way back. When he’s in town, he calls me and brings his daughter over to me and my son. We hang out.

“There’s a level of comfort that translates to Cookie and Lucious—like they can hate each other in one scene but, in the next, they are laughing together. That’s the quality that I knew Terrence would bring.”

Unanswered questions

As to whether Cookie and Lucious are hooking up again, Taraji said, “What Cookie needs are answers. Where were you? Lucious never answers that in this first season. He hasn’t [said] where he was for 17 years. In order for us to either get back together or grow as friends, there are questions that need to be answered.

“But that’s what I love about it because, until they get to address those issues, they will always be [going] back and forth. It doesn’t go away. That kind of love doesn’t go away.”

The actress claimed she has a genuine affinity with the actors who play her sons as well—Trai Byers, Jussie Smollett and Bryshere Y. Gray. “I love them as if they were my sons. I call and check on them all the time. When they are in Chicago, they come over and rattle my pots, especially Yaz (Bryshere). He calls me ‘momma’ all the time. We are very close on and off the set. It never feels like work.”

Taraji revealed that she was exposed in real life to the kind of situations that forced Cookie to sell drugs. “I saw [that] when jobs went away. My father was homeless at one point. He’s a contractor. The Reagan administration came in and… the contracts disappeared. My father became homeless. Shortly after that, crack was dropped off into the neighborhoods. Thank God, my dad was strong enough never to smoke crack. He lived in his van and got through it.

“But I saw crack destroy people. I grew up in a broken home although both my parents were very much a part of my life. [I had friends] who had their mothers and fathers and lived in houses that I always dreamed of, with white picket fences. I saw crack destroy their homes, with both parents strung out. So I understand that place.

“I am not saying that I am condoning it. I have compassion because I understand where it comes from. Hence, I understand Cookie’s and Lucious’ backs being up against the wall. What they did was wrong. Sell drugs, you go to jail. She did, and went to jail. The most amazing thing they (Cookie and Lucious) did was break a cycle, which usually doesn’t happen in the hood.

AN OSCAR nominee, Taraji calls combative Cookie a “role of a lifetime. She really challenges me.” ruben v. nepales

“People raise generations in poverty, drugs and welfare. They broke the cycle. They did something really bad, served their time. But her three sons don’t know poverty.”

Taraji does have a musical background. She studied music in college and toured Hong Kong in a college production of “Dreamgirls.” “My dad collected wax (vinyl records). My mother would put in James Brown and then clean the house. So music is in me. That part I get about Cookie.”

But Taraji would rather chill at home, so unlike Cookie who’s known to barge into meetings and situations. “I am a real homebody. I love my house. I put a lot of work into it. My house represents all of my struggles. I own two homes. I am going to give my son the house he grew up in.

“I just had a fire pit and a Jacuzzi put out back. So I will be out back with my dog in the Jacuzzi. I love a lot of downtime—anything that’s not business-related, anything where I don’t have to get glammed up—although I woke up like this.

“I like downtime when I can just talk to my son. He is 20 and has his own life but we can go on a date. I can catch up with what’s going on in his life. My life is very simple when I am not working because it’s so crazy when I am working. It’s very important that I keep my sanity in this perfect storm that’s happening.”

But acting invigorates her. “My heart starts to palpitate when I see too many numbers on the call sheet because I’m like, ugh, we are going to be here all day. But I actually get excited.”

(E-mail the columnist at [email protected]. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.)