Taraji P Henson tops my list of the best supporting actresses of 2008 with her stunning performance as Brad Pitt's mom in the fantasy film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Henson's riveting onscreen and in a movie loaded with terrific performances, hers stands out as the best. In Los Angeles to promote the film, Henson talked about getting into the role of Queenie.
Henson Never Dreamed She'd Be Playing Brad Pitt's Mom:
"No, no. And my lesson is, be very specific in what you ask for. I said I wanted work with Brad Pitt. God, I found out, has a wicked sense of humor. [Laughing] 'Oh, you want to work with Brad Pitt? Play his momma.'"
Playing Opposite the 'Old' Brad Pitt and Not Working with the Young Attractive Version:
"Well I did [see him] in the makeup trailer. We had to de-robe at some point. [Laughing] And when he saw me come out of the thing, because the first time we worked together was when Benjamin Button comes back to the house for the first time - after he had gone off to become a man - and so the first time Brad sees me, I'm in a fat suit and a wrinkled face. I'm like, 'Great… The plot thickens.' And so the first time he sees me out of the suit, he's like, 'Wow, my momma's hot!'"
On Working in the Old Age Make-Up:
"It was weird because you'd look like an old person and you catch yourself in the mirror, and you're walking really fast. [Laughing] It was just really bizarre and strange. You kind of forget the makeup was there. Cate [Blanchett] said it best last night at a Q and A, that the prosthetic pieces were really, really thin. I always imagine it like to be really heavy, and cumbersome, but it wasn't. There were times when my skin would itch underneath, and I would go to scratch, and I would be like, 'God, why can't I feel it?' You know, 'I'm going numb.' No, but they did an amazing work. It was almost when I would look at Brad or Cate or whoever else had the aging makeup, it was seamless, even in person."
The Ins and Outs Behind the Scenes with Brad Pitt Playing a Tiny 80-Year-Old Man:
"Okay, when Queenie first meets Benjamin, they built this incredible animatronic baby. It took three puppeteers to operate it. And the apparatus looked like a remote control that you would use for a car or a boat and they would make it wink at me in between scenes. It was really freaky. And then as he got older/younger, they hired three really good actors - different sizes - and Brad, David and the actors made sure they were all on the same page as far as who Benjamin was so that in post-production, when they had to do the CGI work, it matched what the actors were doing. And the actors were really good. They gave me so much to respond to, so it wasn't like it was a stand-in and someone's reading the sides off camera. They had blue socks on their heads with X's and O's that pretty much represented the green screen, and they had a place cut out so I could see their eyes. We could respond with each other."
Getting Technical – Brad Pitt's Face was Superimposed on Other Actors:
"I don't even know. Well, yes. And what Brad had to do in post because when I went to do ADR, Brad's face had been generated on some of the scenes but not all. And then it got to the scenes where his face wasn't there, and I was like, 'Wait a minute, that used to be Peter's face.' And it was just the black hole so that when it was time for Brad to go in and do his work in post… I want everybody to understand. [Laughing] I don't know how Brad did it because he couldn't move his body. They put him in this contraption that limited his body movement and all he could do was move his head and use his face. And so I don't know how he did it. He had to look at the screen and re-enact each scene that he physically was not a part of, and only could move his head. When you talk, sometimes you want to move. Could you imagine being restricted? And then I'm looking at it and I see the final product, and I'm like, 'Wait, that was a blue sock. How does it have hair now?' How seamless, seamless… I knew where to look. I knew where to look for the lines - seamless, brilliant."
Defining Director David Fincher:
"You know what I found quite interesting? He's very nurturing, for a man. And I don't want to offend any men here, but you know you guys pretty much leave that up to the women - the nurturing stuff. But he was very nurturing. I love the fact that he obsesses, because I too obsess. I was happy because I was like, 'God, I thought I was the only crazy person walking around.' But you know, it's very rare in this industry that you get a chance to take your time with a film. And I think with a film of this magnitude, you needed time. There was not one moment rushed in this film. And I think Fincher was the perfect director for it, because he brought such a reality to something that could have been so magical and mystical and full of fantasy, but I think it would have been hard for the audience to grasp the concept of this little boy aging backwards. So, I think he did a brilliant job."
