'Empire' star Taraji P. Henson explains origins of 'Boo Boo Kitty’
The undeniable breakout of Fox’s phenom Empire is Taraji P. Henson’s Cookie. The Academy Award nominated actress gives a mid-career, star-making performance as the tough-talking but loving mother and music manager. “It’s a career-defining moment,” she admits. “I would be probably dumb if I didn’t say that. Yeah, absolutely.”
Henson herself is responsible for one of Cookie’s most famous catchphrases: “Boo Boo Kitty,” her nickname for Lucious’ girlfriend Anika (Grace Gealey). “All of that is straight off the cuff,” admits Henson. “I don’t know—something happens to me.”
Explains co-creator Danny Strong, “So basically Taraji is a genius. She’s a comic genius but she’s also an incredibly powerful, dramatic actress and we’re utilizing all that in Cookie. In the case of Boo Boo Kitty, I had rewritten that stupid line five times and then she just comes up and goes, ‘Mm, mm, mm. Boo Boo Kitty.’ And I was like, ‘That’s the most genius thing I’ve ever seen.’ And then we start writing it into the script because we loved it. We loved the phrase ‘Boo Boo Kitty.’”
So what exactly does “Boo Boo Kitty” mean? “You know what it is? It’s nasty nice,” explains Henson. “You don’t want to be called Boo Boo Kitty. You know, it’s almost like when somebody calls you sweetie all the time. It’s almost like ‘bitch’ without saying it.”
