Taraji P. Henson releases new book, discusses being a black woman in Hollywood

"I was born to do this."

Taraji P. Henson is getting candid in her new memoir Around the Way Girl.

In an interview with NPR, the Empire star discusses leaving her hometown of Washington D.C. to pursue her dreams of being an actress.  "I never went there with the expectation of failure. I never even thought about that...If anything, I knew I was going to make a dent in Hollywood and no one would stop me," she said.

Henson also discusses getting parts that she feels are her, but she also gets real about the pay discrepancy in the industry, too. In particular, Henson describes her Oscar-nominated turn as Queenie  in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Henson says she made only two percent what her co star Brad Pitt made and she had to fund her own travel and living arrangements. But the role was so juicy that she took it, despite the inequality. "I decided to swallow my pride and use it in the work. And that's what I did, and I think it paid off," she said.

Atlanta Black Star also reports that Henson even lost out on roles in movies like St. Vincent in favor of white actresses. Henson explained the narrow-mindedness displayed in Hollywood saying, “Time and again, I’ve lost roles because someone with the ability to green-light a film couldn’t see black women beyond a very limited purview he or she thought ‘fit’ audience expectations."

You can hear more about her new book here: