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

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.”