Taraji P. Henson paid a subtle tribute to Carol Burnett with her performance in What Men Want.
The Empire actress is currently promoting the Adam Shankman-directed film, which is a loose remake of the 2000 movie What Women Want, with the story following a woman who is able to hear the inner thoughts of men after drinking a potent concoction made for her by a shaman.
Speaking about her character Alison “Ali” Davis during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night (04Feb19), Henson noted that she included small nods to some of her comedy heroes, like Burnett and Lucille Ball.
“Carol Burnett, the greatest. Mrs. Wiggins!” she said, referring to the secretary character Burnett played in sketches on The Carol Burnett Show, which originally ran from 1967 until 1978. “When you see the movie, I literally studied her, because I’m running like Mrs. Wiggins in the pencil skirts and the heels.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Henson spoke about how she had always wanted to work in comedies, and when she first moved to Los Angeles, tried to get on a sitcom, but life had other plans and she has carved out a name for herself in dramatic features like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Hidden Figures.
“It’s actually what I moved out to L.A. to do. I thought I was going to book a sitcom because I was a single mother and those hours were what I needed, they were bankers’ hours really. You only work a long day when you film the show, so all the rest of the week you’re there for two hours at a time. But of course, for me (that didn’t happen),” the 48-year-old reflected.
What Men Want, also starring Tracy Morgan and Wendi McLendon-Covey, is due to hit U.S. cinemas on Friday.
