Taraji P. Henson Shares Lessons Learned From Her Blue-Collar Dad

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The actress says seeing her dad work hard has affected the way she's raising her own son.

Nicole Marie Melton Dec, 01, 2012

Taraji P. Henson may be one of the hardest working Black actresses in the movie biz, and now she’s revealing exactly where she got her work ethic from.

In the latest JET magazine, Henson says that her father showed her early on that anything worth having was worth working hard for.

“My daddy was blue-collar as you get,” said Henson. “At one point he was homeless, but he was always a man. He never made excuses. He got it done.”

Now that Henson has a son of her own, she’s passing down those lessons learned from her daddy. Despite having a Hollywood actress for a mom, Henson’s 18-year-old son understands that he has to hold his own.

“I’m not bringing up a mama’s boy,” said Henson. “I’ve got him out here looking for work so he can see how hard it is when you just have a high school diploma.”