Cookie Lyon is here to stay, honey.
Last night at the Golden Globes, Taraji P. Henson collected the award for best actress in a TV drama for her role in Fox’s hit series, “Empire”. And according to the 45-year-old beauty, despite being nominated, she did not see the win coming.
“I just did not expect them to call my name. I never do,” she said backstage after receiving the award, according to the New York Daily News.
Although she says that she didn’t expect to win, she definitely came prepared with baked goods to pass out to industry friends in the even that she did take home the award.
“When they called my name, it was like, visceral. I was like, ‘Well, the cookies are here. I guess I should hand them out!” she recalled with a laugh. “I don’t know. I guess it was just the spontaneous moment.”
And apparently, they were a big hit.
“I gave them all away. One went to Angela Bassett. One went to Gaga. And the last one went to Leonardo DiCaprio. I mean, what do you want from me?”
On a more serious note, Henson says that her decision to play Cookie was the biggest risk of her career.
“I mean, I was very nervous when I was reading the script. She wasn’t the most likable character, and I’ve played some pretty edgy characters. But this one was particularly a challenge because it was primetime network television, and I wasn’t sure how people would receive her. I mean she beat her son with a broom,” she said. “She called one son a f—ot. It was scary. But I’m the type of artist that if the role doesn’t scare me, I don’t want it because it’s not going to change me as a person, so I took a risk.”
Clearly, this risk has paid off.
