My only exposure to Taraji P. Henson was through various red carpet interviews, and my only opinion of her was that she’s a real sweetheart. She’s cute as a button (get it?) and she seems genuinely thrilled with her acting nominations for playing the adoptive mother of Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, topped off by her Oscar nomination this week for Best Supporting Actress. She sat down for an interview at CBS to talk about Button, God’s sense of humor and how she found out about her nomination.

Taraji P. Henson, who played Benjamin’s adoptive mother, Queenie, got a nod for Best Supporting Actress. Benjamin was portrayed by Brad Pitt, who was nominated in the Best Actor category.

And Henson told co-anchor Julie Chen on The Early Show Friday playing Pitt’s adoptive mother isn’t “what I imagined I’d be doing when I starred with Brad Pitt. So I know now God has a sense of humor!”

Henson says she was asleep when she got the word she’d been nominated. “I was asleep,” she says. “I was comatose. … I have a great group of friends, and they knew that I was gonna to be angst. And they took me out the night before for a fabulous dinner. And then we went out for music and dancing just so I could have a light night and not think about it. And the tactic worked, because I got home. I was wiped out. And I was knocked out.”

Then her manager called at 5:30, “and I knew it had to be good news. ‘Cause what idiot would call me at 5:30 with bad news?!”

Henson says she hadn’t even mulled winning. “I couldn’t go there yet. I was still dealing with, ‘Wow! A dream has come true!’ Because that’s every actor’s dream. When you say, ‘I want to be an actor,’ everybody thinks about Old Oscar.”

“I wish everybody could be like Queenie,” Henson replied. “Incredible. I actually pay close attention to my grandmother, my mom, and I have four other aunts. And they’re all, you know, we had a get-together. There was a woman there to represent every age. I just sat back and watched. What was so beautiful is that they all embraced age. You know, this film deals a lot with aging. In this industry, it can be really hard on women as we age. I just found that so refreshing. That they showed that it gets better with time.”

Queenie ages 50 years in “Button,” and Henson says that was “Fun, because I know I’ll never look like that at 71. My grandmother’s 84 and she looks nothing like that. (She’s) beautiful. She barely has wrinkles on her face…Well, beauty comes from the inside out. (Queenie)’s a woman who embodied unconditional love. And what’s not beautiful about love?”

From CBS News

Henson’s been everywhere this week, and for good reason – she doesn’t have a job. Even as she diligently promotes her film and herself, she admits that her career’s in a tough place. Much of it may not be her fault – with SAG contract negotiations in a constant state of flux, many projects are being held back or abandoned. Add to that the constant struggle for actresses of color, and even an Oscar nomination isn’t a guarantee of work.

Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson is desperately searching for her next role – because there are no movie offers on the horizon.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button star is up for the Best Supporting Actress gong at this year’s (09) Academy Awards.

And she is shocked at the announcement she has made the shortlist, as her work offers have dried up since she finished shooting the film.

Asked by the Daily Beast website if she is inundated with new roles, she says: “Actually… no. I can’t wait to write my memoir someday and talk about this moment in my life – my name is being bounced around the Oscars, Golden Globes, and all these awards, it’s incredible. And I don’t have a job. Nothing.”

“The industry is really slow right now because of the pending strike, so I am at a standstill. It’s funny that I have all these things going on and no work in sight. It’s very shaky out here.”

From contactmusic.com

As I was researching Henson, I saw that she’s done several of those Tyler Perry movies. I haven’t seen any of them, but Perry makes one or two of those every year, doesn’t he? If Taraji is part of Perry’s ensemble of actors, she might be guaranteed work very soon. If not that, perhaps her “son” Brad Pitt can help her out!

Taraji P. Henson is shown at that Golden Globes on 1/11/09, the Critics Choice Awards on 1/8/09 and the Palm Springs Film Festival on 1/8/09.