Taraji P. Henson,
welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Yes, thanks for having me. (chuckles)
How are-- how are you holding up in-in quarantine?
Your hair looks great.
Thank you!
I've learned to do a lot in this quarantine,
and this is one of the projects.
Um, I'm getting better each and every time.
The first time, it took me three days.
This time, it took me four hours?
No. Yeah, four hours.
-Wow. -I'm getting good.
You've always been an advocate for mental health issues.
You know, you've always spoken out about it.
You've always encouraged people to talk about it,
share about it, get the help that they need,
remove all of the stigmas in talking around mental health,
and I've always appreciated you for that.
Um, I know that your foundation is doing something amazing
right now during coronavirus.
Tell us a little bit about that.
We're doing a virtual fundraiser.
It's called "The Covid-19 Virtual Fundraiser."
And what we're doing is, we're offering five therapy sessions
for those und... um,
uh, under... underserved communities.
Ooh! I've been saying it so much, my brain is like...
(laughs) But
it's for those who are, um,
-disproportionately affected by the Covid-19. -Mm-hmm.
And it's basically, you know, um,
neighborhoods that are of brown...
-brown and black people, so... -Right.
And because we don't really deal with, um,
mental.... health in our community--
there's so much stigma around it--
I just felt like a face needed to be put to it.
And then, in this special time now
where people are... isolated,
and you know that they're going through things in isolation,
and they don't have the means or the money,
I just felt like I needed to do something, so...
It really is. Yeah, it really is a beautiful move
because I feel like, during this period,
more people have experienced and gotten in touch
with what it is like to be either depressed
or-or struggling
with mental illness in a way that they haven't.
You know, a lot of the time, people can avoid it,
people can run away from it. People...
Some-some people don't even know they're experiencing it,
just because of how fast their life might be moving.
-And this is... has been an... -And they have ways to escape.
-You can escape. -Yeah.
-Now you're forced to sit still. -Right.
And so my prayer and my hope is
that people who have.... shunned it,
you know, um, seeking help,
or just believed the stigma around it--
hopefully, they can take this time and this moment
-to-to... to experience it, to just try it. -Mm-hmm.
I mean, because, literally, you know, we keep saying,
"When the world opens back up."
We will all have trauma to get over after this.
-All of us. -Mm-hmm.
Tell me something. How have you managed
to communicate to people the importance of therapy,
especially when we come from communities...?
I mean, I know for a fact. I grew up in South Africa.
I grew up in a family where, for the most part,
if I went to my grandparents and said "Therapy," they'd say,
"You need to run, you need to sleep, or you need Jesus."
-You know, so... -Correct.
How have you managed to break through
in communities that have always looked at therapy
as, like, a white people thing,
or something that's just like a... like a...
almost fake in many ways?
I had to step up and tell my own story,
instead of preaching to people, like, "You need to do this."
I had to let them see that...
You know, 'cause I think the misconception of...
that people have of celebrities is
that money can save everything.
-You know what I mean? -Mm-hmm.
Like, "Oh, you rich. You don't have no problems."
And it's like, money can amplify your problems. (laughs)
And like Biggie Smalls said, the great poet and guru,
Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G. said,
"More money, more problems," and he never lied, you know?
So, um, with that, you have to make the adjustments,
and you have to take care of yourself.
So I felt like me coming forward...
And I feel like I have the... The community trusts me.
You know what I mean? I think they still see me
-as Yvette from Baby Boy. -Right. Right.
You know, the characters of that play seem
tangible and relatable in a way.
And I wear my heart on my sleeve.
And so, I felt like if I came forward with my own issues,
that will free up a lot of people.
And it was actually very freeing for me.
For me, when I did it and I said it
and I finally said it on a... on a national platform,
you know, and then I started seeing other people speak up,
-it was, like, "Oh, okay. I'm not alone." -Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
-Right. -The big bad monster is gone, you know?
And that's how you eradicate the stigma.
The more we normalize the conversation,
then, the easier it will be to have the conversation.
Tell me what you're doing, um, to keep yourself sane
beyond just therapy, because, I mean,
obviously, you have your therapy in your life.
I go to therapy, you go to therapy,
you know, everyone who can goes to therapy,
and thanks to you, at lot more people can go to therapy.
But there's got to be, like, the small things
that you do just to... I mean, you're just in the house.
You're living a completely different life.
What is Taraji doing inside right now?
Don't think I'm weird, okay?
I'm gonna show you.
-I have friends. -(laughs)
(both laughing)
See them over there?
See my friends? (giggling)
-These are my friends. -Wow.
-Yeah. -Are those...?
Are those, like, mannequin heads? Are those..?
Yeah. I have every...
They look a little creepy. It's okay.
Yeah, they look a lot creepy.
But I have every flavor.
Look, I have all... This is my Becky girl.
-Look at her. -Taraji, why do you have...?
You know what this... This looks like a scene
in a horror movie where the person walks into the house,
and then, there's, like, all the heads, and you're like,
"Who has heads inside their house?"
And now it turns out that's Taraji's house.
Trevor, I have heads, and I have hands.
Look, I have hands, as well.
Why?
Because it's a salon, and I practice doing hair,
-and I practice doing... -Oh.
-Okay. -Yeah.
Okay. I feel like you should start with that, Taraji.
Next time... next time anyone says to you,
"What are you doing?," before you show them, like,
heads and hands, you should say, "I have a salon in the house,
"and I practice doing hair and-and manicures.
That's why I have pieces of bodies inside my house."
I feel like you should start with that.
I talk to them.
(Noah laughs)
Keeps me sane. Whatever works, you know?
(laughing): Whatever works.
Okay. But I need to understand the "why."
So why are you...? Is this, like, a backup plan
to your extremely successful acting career? What is this for?
Yeah, 'cause Hollywood is shut down.
We don't know when it's opening back up.
So, um, in order to keep the lights on,
I'm learning how to do nails and hair.
(both laugh)
My father always said, "Learn a trade."
-Taraji, um... -Listen, the people
who have a trade are still working.
My gardener's still working. I don't...
I'm in the house. They're outside, you know.
Well, that's true. It's essential jobs, though.
So, I mean, like, I don't know if...
I don't know if touching people's heads
is gonna be something that you'll be able to do
if other things are shut down.
That's true.
Well, I have these heads, and, um, they make me happy.
-(laughing) -They tip really well.
Taraji, thank you so much. You made my day.
Um, thank you for joining us on the show.
Thank you for talking about mental health,
something we all deal with at different levels,
and people need to talk about more.
Uh, thank you for bringing light into... into our show.
I appreciate you.
Thank you, and if you want to help and donate,
just text, um, "No stigma" to 707070.
"No stigma" to 707070. Okay.
And if we want to book hair appointments,
is there a website for that, or are you...? Not-not yet?
I haven't started it yet,
but you can use my TPH products which are sold at Target.
-Well, there you have it. -(laughing)
Taraji P. Henson, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you. Take care and stay safe.