Taraji P. Henson Reunites With Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard in ‘Fight Night’ – Essence

Taraji P. Henson wants you all to fulfill a certain someone. Her name is Vivian Thomas.

Earlier this month, audiences on the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival got a probability to see Vivian when Henson screened the primary episode: .

The limited series, which premieres on Peacock on September 5, is the true story of Atlanta numbers runner Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams (Kevin Hart), who seizes a chance to expand his business — and his pocketbook — by hosting a casino-style house party for notorious gangster Frank Moten (Samuel L. Jackson) on the night of a key Muhammad Ali fight. Henson plays Vivian, the Chicken Man’s astute business partner, confidante and lover.

The award-winning actress isn’t any stranger to playing firecrackers. Check out the fabric: ruthless assassin Mary in , unhinged hitwoman Sharice Waters in , and uninhibited mama bear Cookie Lyon in Empire . In Fight Night , Henson emphasizes that Vivian isn’t her bell-bottom-era version of Cookie. Vivian is a business mastermind, and her cunning is respected by Chicken and their tight-knit community of Atlanta hustlers.

“Can’t wait” [for folks] “To meet her,” says Henson, who smiles with satisfaction as a few of her co-stars enter the film festival’s guest room. Don Cheadle and Chloe Bailey hug and shake hands with producer Will Packer, the show’s executive producer, and creator and showrunner Shaye Ogbunna. Packer interrupts our conversation, but Henson jokingly shoos him away, wanting to make it clear that there are levels to playing women that may’t be pigeonholed.

“When I think about fire, Cookie was very fiery, so when I have these characters, I always think, ‘Oh, this has to be different.’ Well, it’s clearly a different, different time,” he says. “But Vivian was grounded, grounded Chicken Man. She wasn’t a pop-off. Cookie is a pop-off. Yes, she’s a strong woman and she handles her own business, but she had to be a little more deliberate in how she moved, especially with a group of men.”

Henson explains that it was the person who influenced her portrayal of Cookie. “I enlisted the help of my father to play Cookie. He was the only person I knew who literally lived out loud, who was unapologetically himself, he didn’t care,” Lawrence Henson says of her father, Boris. “He didn’t care about anything bad, he wore his heart on his sleeve. It’s a brave place to live.”

is a homecoming for Henson, as she reunites with several of her male co-stars and producers from throughout her profession. She and Kevin Hart were a part of the ensemble solid of its sequel, which was produced by Packer; Henson and Cheadle starred in ; and he or she and Terrence Howard worked together in i . This made appearing on set a simple task.

“I know it’s going to be a good time,” Henson says. “I remember having an out-of-body experience the first time I worked with all the guys. I walked up and thought, ‘Shit, I’ve been busy. I’ve worked with almost everyone except Sam.’ I had a moment where I had to pinch myself.”

The green room has filled up with more people as stage managers and publicists begin to warn solid and producers that the festival’s closing show is about to begin. He has time for yet one more query, and Henson answers without hesitation.

What’s next?

Pension.

Henson jokes, because she has several projects in pre-production as an actress and producer. She also assures me that she is going to use her Howard University theater degree when she finds the time. “Broadway is always there. It’s just a matter of time. To do theater like that, you have to have the time. And I just didn’t have the time. Don’t worry, it’s coming,” she says with a wink.

What’s coming sooner quite than later is her next entrepreneurial enterprise, but she will’t reveal all the small print. Henson offers with a shy smile.

“When I think of my brand, I think of a gift package. So the gift package I send you is literally head to toe. It’s everything. It’s hair, it’s body, it’s books to read, it’s mental stimulation,” she says. “Now we’re going to add something to drink.”

When Henson stepped behind the bar, we knew whatever she was mixing was going to be good.