Celebrate Taraji P. Henson's Incredible Career With These Little-Known Facts

In Us Magazine's piece, she revealed that her college nickname was Cookie. What are the chances?!

Before she really committed to acting, Taraji attended Howard University. She told Vanity Fair that she wanted to major in electrical engineering, but after she failed a couple pre-calculus classes, she had to reconsider.

Taraji said to Glamour, "I love to cook and look for recipes all the time." She also revealed that she has a special chili recipe that Mary J. Blige is obsessed with: "Every time Mary J. Blige comes to town, she requests it. She'll say, 'Taraji, are you going to make that chili?' And when she's out of town, she'll ask me to freeze a bag and her assistant will come pick it up!" That's legit.

The best part is Taraji had previously called Mary her "go-to sushi pal" in her feature with Us Magazine. Sounds like these two are great friends.

At the 2009 Oscars, Taraji temporarily lost a piece of her stunning diamond necklace — it slipped off at some point during the night. Taraji made everyone stop dead in their tracks — Meryl Streep included — so she could retrieve the piece.

An interview with W Magazine revealed that Taraji auditioned to be in Precious, but not for the role she wanted. "Lee wanted me for the thin, pretty teacher in Precious . . . And I was like, 'Well, I want to play Precious — because that's the role in this piece.' Lee thought I was nuts. I was like, 'Look, they turned Charlize Theron into a monster! I could be this girl!' When I think about that now, it was such a Cookie move.”

Taraji actually thought it was a joke when she was asked to read for the part of Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. "I didn't take it seriously . . . I mean, they had Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt — why would they want me? I thought it was a runaround, and I decided to hold an epic garage sale that day instead. I had mannequins. I had glasses with wig heads. I had champagne ready. And then my agent called and said, 'Shut that garage door! Fincher wants to see you.'" For the record, she snagged the role and a best supporting actress Oscar nomination to boot.