Viola Davis and Taraji P. Henson graced the cover of Ebony in May 2009. I wrote the story, so I got to hang out at the photo shoot to get a feel for the ladies and their personalities. I’ll never forget how I met Viola. I arrived to the location early (a mansion in an ultra swanky part of a suburb of L.A.) and my cell wouldn’t work inside the house because of its 24 carot gold-plated walls. (Seriously.) I went out to the gates, past the guard house to the street to call my husband. (I’m a newlywed, remember?) And I see this beautiful black woman trudging up the street with suede boots, a purple sweater and a book. It’s Viola!
I go down to meet her. We walk in together. I show her the house, introduce her to the owner, bring her to the back room where her makeup artist is waiting to do her hair and apply makeup.
I love this photo!
We took this picture after a swanky lunch in Beverly Hills.
The house belonged to a famous jeweler. His daughter was house sitting make sure we didn’t take any jewels or anything. Of course, the body guard were there to prevent anything – not that I would take a thing! The house had diamond chandeliers, a fireplace large enough for me to walk in and a backyard with a river running through it.
The owners loved fantasy novels like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and their backyard showed their whimsical fancy.
THe same guys who cooked for Diddy also cooked for Taraji and Viola. The food was extremely good. Breakfast, lunch and dinner for a loooong looooong shoot. Omelettes to order, salmon, designer tea, oatmeal, fruit salad and designer coffee for the am. Braised chicken, asparagus salad, kobe beef, apple pie, chocolate cookies, seafood salad (with real crab and lobster), and more designer coffee , water and pop.
We retired inside for fancy pictures in the red room.
In the red room at the photo shoot in the mansion.
