Taraji P. Henson Talks Playing Cookie, Ending Empire

Taraji P. Henson Talks Playing Cookie, Ending Empire

Empire is still going strong, with a flock of dedicated fans tuning in punctually each week. The new season is on the way tomorrow evening, and the lady that plays everyone’s favorite Lyon is speaking out on being Cookie.

While Taraji is delighted by the show’s success, she’s well aware of the concept of “too much of a good thing.” As she recently told Variety,

“I could not do this forever. No. Cookie wears me out! She drains me. She is emotionally all over the place. Those writers, they just keep pushing my emotions with every episode. By the 18th episode [of each season], I’m dead. I got to get far away. I don’t wear animal print. I cut my hair into a bob. I don’t wear a weave because I’ve got to get as far away from Cookie as possible.”

As for the future of Empire itself, Taraji says there’s no need to drag things out with the evening soap opera.

“Once it’s syndicated — and then I’m like, ‘Thank you. Goodnight!’ I learned this from the women of ‘Sex and the City’ — you’ve got to know when to go out. You don’t want to overstay your welcome. You want to go out on a high. You want to be remembered as the number one show on the network.

I’m going to lose my passion, I know me. And Cookie is enough. I can’t do that for so long.”

We definitely agree! Nothing worse than a once-good television show wearing out its welcome, or running out of ideas and going WAY left.

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