Taraji P. Henson is an actress.
Taraji Penda Henson ( [ tə ` rɑːdʒi ] ; born September 11 , 1970 ) is an American actress and author . In 2010 , she appeared in the comedy Date Night and co-starred in the remake of The Karate Kid . In 2015 , she began starring as Cookie Lyon on the Fox drama series Empire , for which she became the first African-American woman to win a Critics ' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series . Also that year , she received praise for her starring role as Katherine Johnson in the critically acclaimed drama film Hidden Figures , for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture .