Taraji P. Henson Stars in Tyler Perry's "I Can Do Bad All By Myself"

Taraji P. Henson has been working steadily in television and film since 1997, but it was her performance in the 2005 film Hustle & Flow that really brought her to audiences' attention. Then in last year's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, her portrayal of Queenie, Brad Pitt's adoptive mother, brought her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and solidified her position on Hollywood's A-list.

This fall she appears as the leading lady in Tyler Perry's latest film I Can Do Bad All By Myself. As Aunt April, she's a hard-drinking bitter woman who just wants to take care of herself and keep attachments to a minimum. She didn't count on her dead sister's children and a force of nature named Madea. We talked with Taraji two days before the film opened in theaters nationwide.

Given the messages of hope and redemption present in this film, what personal experiences did you draw from to help flesh out your character April?

Taraji:    I don't know if I have any exact personal experiences I could draw from except for the death of my father, which I could relate to for the death of April's mother.

April was clearly molested as a child, and sometimes when you are raped or violated sexually, there's a disconnect there. So to deal with that, I wrote a lot of backstory for her about why she and her mother were estranged, and I went from there and added to what Tyler had already written in the script.

You have stated that you totally trust Tyler as a director. I know you worked with him on The Family That Preys. Was that when trust was established, or was it at a different time?

Taraji:    I trust him because I love his process. It's very reminiscent of my training at Howard University. It's very hard-core, to the point, not tiptoeing around the bush. It's not applauding the things I do well. I know what I do well – that's why I do it well. He doesn't allow me to use my bag of tricks, but continues to push me to go deeper.

That's how I really love to work. I promised myself that if I ever got too complacent and comfortable that I would walk away from the industry. I'd walk away from the business because that means I'm bored and I'm over it.

I really wanted to work with him again on a larger scale because I really wanted to sharpen my tools. He's the type of person who'll walk over to you and say, "I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you said." That translates to me "dig deeper."

Most directors will give you a line reading and don't know how to get that best performance out of you because they don't know how to communicate. That's what works best for me.

You said of your character that it's not until she reintroduces herself back to spiritually that she finds love again. Why do you think that is, and is it possible in real life?

Taraji:    Absolutely it's possible. God is love. God represents love. Love is the greatest gift God gave humans, and if you're not loving, you're not living. You're among the walking dead.

April didn't know how to love. Because she was molested as a child, her view of love was very distorted at an impressionable age. She was at an emotional bottom. She needed God.

After being in the industry for a decade now, you're coming into your own as a leading lady. Did you ever imagine during your training at the university that this would happen in connection with a big budget film about faith?

Taraji:    That was actually unexpected. I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in acting, and I guess it didn't really become tangible for me until I started seeing alumni in movies. I'd go pay for a movie and there they'd be on the big screen. That was when I started to believe that I could make a living at it.

When I was training, there were no films like what Tyler is doing around, so that wasn't even in my conscience. It wasn't until Tyler Perry was introduced to Hollywood and we started seeing his films that I started thinking about faith-based films and wanting to work with Tyler.

What do you think it is about Tyler's films that are so successful? What draws people to the theaters to see them?

Taraji:    Because it's real people in real life. It's people that represent an entire audience that has been ignored for a long time. The days of disciplining kids like they did back in the day are over. You raise your hand to your kid or shake your kid in public and you could go to jail. Parents are running around scared to raise their children.

That's what's so beautiful about Tyler Perry and a character like Madea. You know laughter is the best form of therapy, and she'll wheel you up in her web with laughter and then she'll hit you with the message. That's a brilliant way to convey your message to the audience. And people eat it up.

Who wants to be preached to all the time?

Has it been different for you participating in press events for Tyler Perry movies than traditional Hollywood films? Are you doing as much press for this as other films you've done?

Taraji:    Absolutely. That's when the real work begins. Putting the movie in the can is the easy part. Doing the press part is hard. I flew in from China for this. I've been in China for two months filming the remake of The Karate Kid (Kung Fu Kid) with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, Will and Jada Pinkett's son. Right now my body is saying it's 4 AM China time, so I'm delirious.

Photos courtesy Quantrell Colbert and LionsGate™ Entertainment.