Women are taking back Hollywood, and Taraji P. Henson, Gina Rodriguez and Emma Roberts are three of them who are dominating the small screen.
Covering Glamour's October TV issue, these women are changing the TV game with their groundbreaking series. Although Roberts' Scream Queens hasn't premiered yet, it already has critics talking about how much of a hit it will be. Henson and Rodriguez, who star in Empire and Jane the Virgin respectively, have already made names for themselves for breaking racial barriers with their characters.
"[Cookie] is everybody's alter ego. She crosses cultures," Henson tells the magazine of her Empire character. "[Last year] we went to Paris and screened the pilot for a thousand people. Lee Daniels [the series' co-creator] brought me onstage. The audience stood up on their feet and clapped. I cried because, for so long in Hollywood, I've been told that black women don't do well overseas, that they can't open a film overseas."
She added, "That moment for me was the best moment of my life. That's better than any trophy, any award, any nomination. You know how they say music can heal the world? I feel that way about art in general."
But Henson isn't too worried about her impact on Hollywood; she wants to take on the world. Rodriguez and her onscreen character feel the same way. "People say this is a Latino show. But this is just a show that happens to have people with ancestors who come from other countries," she says.
"None of us wants to be defined anymore. We're human, dude. I feel like I was meant to do something—and nothing about me, genetically, is gonna stop me from doing that. Jane feels the same way."
All three of them have to deal with the highs and lows of Hollywood, but thankfully they have their gal-pals to get them through it. Roberts has been on-again, off-again with Evan Peters for a while, but she has made it through with the help of her female friends.
"I think I've cried more about breakups with girlfriends than I ever have about boyfriends," Roberts confesses. "But can I tell you: It's changed my life. I only have girlfriends now who make me a better person."
And those girlfriends are always there for each other, even when they're freaked out! "We'll call each other and be like, 'Hey, are you scared? Yep. Me too, I'm coming over.' You always need that girlfriend you can get in bed with," she explains.
"Even though I'm 24, I still look under the bed every night before I go to sleep."