TARAJI P. HENSON COVERS MARIE CLAIRE MAGAZINE,OCTOBER 2017 EDITION.{PHOTOS}.

      According to the magazine ''A self-admitted daddy's girl, Henson speaks with sweet reverence about her late father, who pushed her, a young black single mother, to move from southeastern D.C. to Los Angeles 20 years ago to pursue her dreams of stardom. She wielded a theater degree; $700; her son, Marcell (now 23); and an unwavering belief that she deserved to be seen.Her assuredness and talent propelled the girl who "came from the goddamn hood and put myself through Howard University" to nearly insurmountable heights in an industry that doesn't center women, especially black women who, as she writes in her best-selling memoir, Around the Way Girl, don't "have the look of, say, a Halle Berry, or the ethnic ambiguity of a Gugu Mbatha-Raw," but the look of "an everyday, round-the-way girl."But it was that relatability and realness that nabbed Henson her film debut role in John Singleton's 2001 South Central L.A. coming-of-age drama, Baby Boy. Her Yvette was its emotional heart, and audiences and Hollywood couldn't forget her searing and raw performance."I just knew [I'd be typecast]. They are going to think this is all I can do. So I was like, 'Never again a ghetto role. I'm not saying I can't do it later, but right now, I have something to prove,'" she says. "My mission became showing that I'm a character actress. I can give them as many different performances as Meryl Streep—who is the one they look up to? Meryl Streep. Watch this. You think black women can't do it? I'm trained just like she is''.More photos below.