Taraji P. Henson to Make Directorial Debut with “Two-Faced”

Academy Award-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson (TV's Empire, Hidden Figures) has announced she will direct her first feature film. Two-Faced will come from BRON Studios, which has produced films as varied as A Simple Favor, Tully and the Oscar-winning Bombshell. Tim Story (Ride Along) and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett (Wild Hogs) will also serve as producers.

The dark comedy tells the story of Joy, a high school senior who exposes the racist past of the popular principal Jerald, which sets off an increasingly intense chain of events. Henson will play Joy's mother. The script comes from Cat Wilkins, a graduate of UCLA's MFA Screenwriting Program. Wilkins won the school's Screenwriter Showcase for the screenplay.

A production date and further casting have not been announced, but would likely begin in Spring 2021. "After two decades spent in front of the camera, I’m thrilled to finally jump behind it for my feature directorial debut!" Henson said.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.