Taraji P. Henson welcomed her son, Marcell Johnson, when she was in college

Taraji P. Henson and her son, Marcell Johnson, in 2015. Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Taraji P. Henson’s 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 boy was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 before she started building her own empire.

The Golden Globe winner previously told PEOPLE that her son, Marcell Johnson, is the “greatest gift” she’s ever received. Henson got pregnant with her son during her junior year of college. “People said, ‘This is it for her.’ But I did not stop. I never missed a class,” the Howard University alumna recalled in a 2015 interview with Glamour.

Henson had her 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 boy in her arms as she walked across the stage at her graduation in 1995. Then, to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, the Empire star moved out to Los Angeles with her young son.

“People were like, ‘Are you crazy, moving to California with your son?’ My father was like, ‘Leave him home.’ I said, ‘I can’t leave my son at home.’ [And eventually] my father said, ‘That’s your 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦. That’s your blessing. He’s going to be your strength.’ And you know what? He was,” Henson told Glamour.

“I didn’t have time to go to the club to ‘network.’ That’s B.S. No business deals go down at the club. So I didn’t get caught up in that. I had a mission,” she added. “I had to make my dream come true. If I didn’t, what was I proving to my son?”

Henson credits her son for giving her “laser-sharp” focus. “I never saw my 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 as a roadblock to my goals or a strike against my ability to do exactly what I planned to do with my life; I simply started planning and dreaming about ways I would get what I wanted out of life while I had a 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 on my hip. Having my son gave me a laser-sharp focus,” the TPH by Taraji founder penned in her memoir.

“That is the miracle of single motherhood: it is not easy to raise a human being with a partner, but doing so alone requires a Herculean effort that is all muscle and grit, built up with repetitive sets of sacrifice,” she continued. “Whatever you gain, whatever you earn, you give to your 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 and you work triple hard to show your 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 — not anyone else — that moving forward, no matter how tiny the steps, is possible. This is a single mother’s love.”

Here’s everything to know about Taraji P. Henson’s son, Marcell Johnson.

He looked just like his dad when he was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧Taraji P. Henson and her son, Marcell Johnson. Taraji P. Henson Instagram

Henson shares Marcell with William LaMarr “Mark” Johnson, whom she met when she was 17 years old. The What Men Want actress wrote in her memoir that she went into labor with her son on Mother’s Day in 1994. According to Henson, Marcell was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 “looking just like his daddy.”

“They’ve got the same head and eyes, the same thick, hard, leathery hands,” she wrote in Around the Way Girl.

He attended his mom’s college graduationTaraji P. Henson at her graduation holding her son, Marcell Johnson. Taraji P. Henson Instagram

Marcell was on hand for his mother’s graduation from Howard University in 1995. “I will always remember taking my son across the stage. He was dancing in my arms like he knew what was going on,” she said in her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony speech.

He is his mom’s “strength”Taraji P. Henson and her son, Marcell Johnson, in 2019. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP

Henson moved to L.A. when her son was young to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. In her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony speech, Henson recalled moving with $700 when Marcell was only 1 year old.

“I just made a promise to him, and I just said, ‘I’m never gonna give up. Things are gonna be hard.’ He don’t even remember the hard days, he remembers the house with the pool, but I just made a promise to him and when you love that deep and you make promises, you have to keep them,” she said.

Henson didn’t initially tell her son the truth about his father’s death

Henson ended her relationship with Marcell’s father after he became “physically abusive” one night. The Baby Boy actress’ ex was “stabbed to death” when their son was 9 years old. In an episode of Facebook Watch’s Peace of Mind with Taraji, the Hidden Figures star shared that she could not tell her Marcell, at the time, that his father had been murdered.

“My son’s father was suddenly taken, murdered, when he was 9 and I didn’t know how to tell him that,” she admitted. “I couldn’t tell him he was murdered.”

Instead, Henson told her son that Mark had “died in an accident.” However, Marcell found out later on in life and asked his mother, “Why didn’t you tell me my daddy was murdered?” Henson revealed that she and her son then “had to get therapy.”

He has a “good heart”Taraji P. Henson and her son, Marcell Johnson, in 2022. Taraji P. Henson Instagram

During an installment of The Jess Cagle Interview, Henson opened up about the fear she carries as a mother. “He has a really good heart,” she said of her son. “It’s just hard to know that the world can pick him out and turn him into a monster at any given moment.”

She continued, “That’s what I fear, that’s something that I carry — I think every Black mother does. All parents worry about their kids, but then when you see the news and you see people getting off for 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing innocent 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren with no weapon it’s like, that doesn’t exempt my son.”

He makes music

In 2015, Henson supported the release of her son’s EP, The Dikembe EP. “#SOPROUD of my #BabyBoy follow him please. He’s about to drop some  ” she wrote on Instagram. Marcell posts about his music on his personal Instagram, which Henson has tagged on her respective page.

He’s modeled in a New York Fashion Week showTaraji P. Henson and her son, Marcell Johnson. Taraji P. Henson Instagram

Henson was a proud mom in 2018 as she celebrated her son’s runway debut. “PROUD MOMMY MOMENT!!!!My son @filet_marcell on his runway debut @edwingdangelo #NYFW #FW18 @travelmosafer @raicesny @barcelo #proudmom #blackmodel #blackdesigner #lifeisarunway ,” she captioned pictures of her son from the New York Fashion Week show.

He’s made appearances with his momTaraji P. Henson and her son, Marcell Johnson, in 2014. Jason Kempin/Getty

Over the years, Marcell has attended events with his famous mother. In 2014, he accompanied Henson to a screening of From The Rough in Hollywood, and joined his mom at the 2015 Emmy Awards.

Marcell was also present as his mother received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019. In her emotional speech at the ceremony, Henson said, “I’m a mom. I have a son. When I set out on this journey, I said, ‘I’ll never give up because if I give up what am I teaching my son.”