Over the last decade, there have been so many movies and TV shows released that you would have to be superhuman to keep track of them all. While the glut of content can feel overwhelming to viewers, it is mindblowing when you think about the fact the vast majority of shows and films hire a slew of actors to bring their stories to life.

Considering that so many people make their livings as actors, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that some of them aren’t all that talented. On the other hand, some performers are so amazing that it is crazy to think of them holding a regular job, including the amazing Taraji P. Henson. In reality, however, a lot of current stars held average jobs before they made it big.

Even though Taraji P. Henson seems to have been born to be an actor, it should go without saying that she needed to support herself long before she became a star. However, to say that one of the jobs Henson had during her college years is amazing is a massive understatement.

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An All-Time Great

Of all the people in Hollywood today, it could easily be argued that Taraji P. Henson is one of the most fascinating. After all, it is very safe to say that Henson has led an interesting life and she tends to be extremely entertaining whenever she is interviewed. More importantly, Henson is so talented as an actor that it is hard to overstate how skilled she is.

These days, Taraji P. Henson is best known for her starring role in the hit TV show Empire. Of course, that is a good thing since Henson is undeniably great in that show. However, anyone who overlooks her movie career is missing out. After all, Henson has impressed in a long list of movies including Hustle & Flow, Hidden Figures, and Baby Boy.

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An Unusual Job

As an actor, Taraji P. Henson has mastered the art of pretending that she belongs in whatever situation she finds herself in onscreen. As it turns out, Henson got practice feeling at home in extreme situations when she was in college as she worked in one of the most secure places in the world during that time in her life.

During a 2019 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Taraji P. Henson talked about the extremely unusual job she held in college and how she landed the gig. “Coming from the Washington D.C. area, most of my family worked for the government so that’s how I got my job in college.” “My stepmom got me the job in the Pentagon.” After Stephen Colbert asked Henson what her job was in the Pentagon, she explained “I was a receptionist, nothing important”.

While it may not sound that exciting to be a receptionist at the Pentagon, and it likely wasn’t, Taraji P. Henson had to go through an amazing process to land the gig. “That was the most important thing about my job, I had security clearance. Yes, I did. I still have it.”

From there, Taraji P. Henson revealed that her Pentagon job was supposed to be temporary before explaining how she made was able to stick around longer. “I actually went to a very powerful woman who ran the division I worked in. And, I was in the summer program and I knew I needed to keep the job and I went to her and plead my case, and she saw a young woman trying to do the best with her life. And she opened up that position and kept me there. I’ll never forget her.” Of course, Henson gets paid well to be badass onscreen, but most people don’t know she had such a wild gig in real life.

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Henson’s Other College Jobs

Amazingly enough, when Taraji P. Henson attended Howard College she somehow found the time to work multiple jobs. While you may assume that Henson’s other gigs were a lot more mundane, since working at the Pentagon is such an unusual job, that isn’t the case.

During a 2015 Allure interview, Taraji P. Henson revealed that in between classes she’d do people’s hair in her apartment for $20 a head and she charged money to do people’s nails too. "Oh, yeah, I knew how to hustle and make money. We used to do wet sets... I bought a hooded dryer, and I had my box of rollers. I could have gone to jail; I had no license whatsoever. But it was just my friends. They were like, 'Girl, hook me up.'" At the time of the interview, Henson also revealed that she was still good enough at doing nails that she still sometimes did her own. "If I get bored, I'll put a full set on."

Still not through, amazingly enough, Taraji P. Henson has spoken about holding one last job during her college years and it was quite colorful too. After all, she worked as a singing-dancing waitress on the Spirit of Washington which is a dinner cruise. During the aforementioned Allure interview, Henson said “I come from a family of hard workers". Clearly, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in that regard.

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