Taraji P. Henson on losing role to white actress: ‘I couldn’t get served at that restaurant’

Taraji P. Henson says she lost out on a role in "St. Vincent" to Naomi Watts, despite the fact that it had been specifically written for her.

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Taraji P. Henson says she lost out on a role in “St. Vincent” despite the fact that it had been specifically written for her.

She wrote about the loss of the role, which went to Naomi Watts, in her memoir “Around the Way Girl,” saying that Theodore Melfi had written the role specifically for her.

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“It was a meaty gig. I would have loved it,” Henson wrote. “Alas, I couldn’t get served at that particular restaurant.”

Henson said that she is used to not getting roles, but this one hit hard because it should have been hers.

“Time and again, I’ve lost roles because someone with the ability to green-light a film couldn’t see black women beyond a very limited purview he or she thought ‘fit’ audience expectations,” she wrote.

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