Taraji P. Henson, a DMV native born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Prince George’s County, MD, is currently starring in Tyler Perry’s film Straw– which has become the #1 movie on Netflix.
In Straw, Henson portrays Janiyah Wiltkinson, a single mother whose life takes an unexpected turn. As a series of unfortunate events unfolds, Janiyah finds herself in a situation she never imagined, suddenly at the center of suspicion in an indifferent world.
Henson is an Oxon Hill High School alumna, graduating in 1988. She initially enrolled at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with plans to study electrical engineering before transferring to Howard University to pursue drama. To help finance her education, she balanced two jobs– working mornings as an administrative assistant at The Pentagon and spending her evenings as a singing, dancing waitress on the Spirit of Washington dinner-cruise ship, as detailed in an archived Vanity Fair interview.