There’s a meaningful disparity between Taraji P. Henson’s fame relative to the rest of her Joe Turner’s Come and Gone ensemble, and the size of her role.

At least by the conventional metrics used to evaluate the importance of a character. 

She’s the closest to being an A-lister in the Broadway cast, but her amount of lines is dwarfed by Cedric the Entertainer, and August Wilson’s text focuses more explicitly on her house guests.

Similar to how Samuel L. Jackson and Jim Parsons utilized their star wattage to showcase the art of attentive listening — more imperative for the roving eyes of stage audiences than the honed perspective of the camera — Henson’s involvment spotlights a figure who does not dominate through customary means.

Rather, she — both the actor and the character — builds humanity and community and a marriage through subtler forms of expression.