On Friday, Tyler Perry released his second full-length film of 2025. His latest psychological thriller— “Straw” —stars Taraji P. Henson, Sherri Shepherd, and singer, Teyana Taylor. Prior to its release, Bevy Smith hosted a town hall on SiriusXM Bevy Smith featuring all of the aforementioned actors plus Tyler Perry himself, to talk about the film and their time in Hollywood.
And baby, things got deep.
Henson has been very vocal and honest about the fact that Tyler Perry was the first person to pay her equitably for a role, famously sharing that she was paid $500,000 for her starring role in 2009’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.” So in a recent conversation with Bevy Smith, both she and Sherri Shepherd got emotional when speaking about their treatment in Hollywood and praised Perry for being who he is and how he respects and treats actors. Henson, in particular, spoke about that time in her life when she took the role in Perry’s 2009 film…and why.
“I’m just gonna say this. Like I remember when I got nominated for the Oscar, you know, the Oscar run is crazy. The phone is ringing. You gotta be here. You gotta be there. They gotta… And then the day after the Oscars, the phone stops ringing. Like, it’s weird ’cause it’s like, you don’t, your senses, your nervous system is shocked because you’re so used to going and all of a sudden nothing,” said Henson reflecting on 2009, when she was nominated for “Best Supporting Actress” for her role in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
It makes sense that being nominated for an Oscar would lead to many opportunities and inquiries for roles in upcoming films. And yet…
“No phone calls. You know who called me? This man right here (Perry). For, a leading role. Not supporting, a leading role. And it was, ‘I Can Do Bad All By Myself,’” she continued.
Which answers a question that a lot of people, especially on social media, have asked regarding how and why she “ended up” in a Perry film coming off an Oscar nomination. As it turns out, even people on her team were questioning the move, which Henson passionately addressed.
“You know, people started asking me on my team, ‘Why you gonna do a Tyler Perry…’ I said, ‘Nobody called, no one called to offer me a number one position in the film. He did.’ And then told me what to ask for. Gave me a quote who, I didn’t have a quote until this man right here. And so, to this day, I’m going to, I don’t care how big I got, I don’t care how many awards I win. Whenever he calls, I’m there.”
She said what she said.
So the next time you wonder why you see Taraji (and likely other actors you know and love) in Tyler Perry films, the answer might lie somewhere in and around Henson’s response: Tyler Perry shows up when others don’t and he shows up big.
“Straw” is currently streaming on Netflix.
