| Advertisement |
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Taraji P. Henson is among the actresses honored in Elle's annual Women in TV issue. The 45-year-old Empire star was chosen to cover the magazine's 2016 edition, along with Viola Davis of How to Get Away with Murder, Olivia Wilde of Vinyl, Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Veep and Priyanka Chopra of Quantico.
Advertisement
Henson plays Cookie Lyon on the Fox musical drama, which will return from mid-season break Mar. 30. The series follows music mogul Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) as he contends with his family, including ex-wife Cookie, after he is diagnosed with ALS.
"It was very important to me that [Cookie] not be sassy and neck-rollin' and eye-bulgin' and attitude all the time," the actress said in the interview. "Everything she does is coming from a place of fighting for her family. That's why she's not a caricature."
Henson's portrayal of the Lyon family matriarch skyrocketed her to greater fame, and earned her a Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama on Sunday. She previously discussed the cult of Cookie with reporters in September.
"I think she is everybody's spirit animal," she said of the character. "Or their alter ego. She lives in truth. One thing she's not is politically correct ... I would say that probably 80 percent is Cookie and maybe 20 percent is Taraji."
Davis, meanwhile, became the first black woman to win a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in September. The 50-year-old actress plays Annalise Keating on How to Get Away with Murder, which will return Jan. 29 on ABC.
"If you are anywhere above a size 2, you're not having sex," she said of Hollywood beauty standards. "You don't have sexual thoughts. You may not even have a vagina. And if you're a certain age, you're off the table."
Louis-Dreyfus and Chopra star as Selina Meyer and Alex Parrish on Veep and Quantico, respectively. The former will return Apr. 12 on HBO, while Wilde's series Vinyl will debut Feb. 14 on the premium cable network.
