With an Oscar nomination for 'Benjamin Button' and her role in this year's 'Not Easily Broken,' Taraji P. Henson is flying high.

In her first lead role, the Washington, D.C., native is working with Tyler Perry again in his latest film, 'I Can Do Bad All By Myself.'

The movie also stars Perry, Mary J. Blige, Hope Olaide Wilson, Brian White, Kwesi Nii-Lante Boakye, Frederick Siglar, Gladys Knight, Marvin Winans and Adam Rodriguez.

The story line follows what happens when Perry's iconic Madea character discovers a 16-year-old girl (Wilson) and her brothers looting her home and sends them to live with their Aunt April (Henson), a hard-drinking nightclub singer.

Black Voices recently caught up with Henson to discuss her role in the film, life after the award nominations, and her current film, which is shooting in China.

I know you have a powerful voice. Did you ask Tyler if you could do your own singing?

Taraji P. Henson: I really wanted to do my own singing, but with people like Mary J. and Gladys Knight in the film, I thought it best that I sound more like Cheryl Pepsii Riley. We didn't want to have my voice compare to theirs. I really did sing. That's why the veins were popping out in my neck.

Can you talk about your success? I feel like you've paid your dues, and now you're finally getting the recognition you deserved.

TPH: Well, when I first started this journey, I had my talk with God, and I was very clear about what I wanted. I wanted longevity. In asking that, I knew my journey was not going to be an overnight success. That's not what I wanted. My goal is to continue to do work that people will talk about long after I'm gone. So, when you ask for something like that you have to understand what that comes with. It's a slow, steady build.

Would you say this is film is one of the richest showcases for you to display your talent?

TPH: I would say so, because this is the first film where I'm the lead. April, my character, is very complex. It's easy to play her one-note and have everybody hate her, but I had to dig and find other levels of the humanity within her.

What was the most difficult scene for you?

TPH: The scene where she finds out her mother dies. I lost my dad three years ago, so that was very emotional for me.

How do you go about choosing the roles that you pick now?

TPH: Usually if the script doesn't start speaking to me by the 10th page then I'm not interested in it. Really it's the characters. I'm not interested in duplicating characters I've already played. I love to explore new avenues and challenge myself constantly, so I'm always looking for characters that I haven't done yet.

How did you like working with the kids?

TPH: I immensely enjoyed working with them. They are so talented and very professional. The hardest part for me was the beginning, when April was a mess, because I am such a nurturer. That part of April was so far removed from who I am, because I'm a mother. I love children. I'm a really loving, bubbly person, and April was so dark and ugly. Tyler, when he's trying to get the best performance from you, he'll do the shock value. So he will come over to me and say things for me to repeat to the children, and I'd be like, "You want me to say what?" I would say these horrible things to these babies, getting the great performance from them, and then Tyler would yell "cut," and I would say, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Tyler made me do it!"

You've often talked about how close you and your son are. I also know you really take on your character. When you went home at night, how did you not bring that performance to your home? How did you get rid of it?

TPH: I'm the type of actress where I have a switch. I turn it on and off. I'm trained. Some things will stick with me, but because I'm a mother, I can't take it home. When I come home, my son doesn't want to hear about what's going on on set; he wants to know what's for dinner. He needs a uniform for tomorrow. Did I wash clothes? So that keeps my life balanced. It allows me the escapism from the set.

And Oscar nominations really don't mean anything to kids, do they?

TPH: No, he doesn't care. He's like, "What is for dinner?" (laughs)

Now that the film career is taking off in such a major way, what would it take to bring you back to television as far as guest starring or a recurring role?

TPH: A great comedy, one that will catapult me into another stratosphere in my career.

Is there a show that's on right now that you would do a guest starring role if producers called?

TPH: 'Ugly Betty.' You know what, to be quite honest, I don't even know what's on TV right now. I've been literally in China for two months. What is the fall lineup? What is out there? I don't even know. You know they shut down the Internet over there. Twitter, YouTube, I have no access to that.

Are you still working in China?

TPH: Yeah, I still am. I have to go back.

When you see a situation like that you realize that America has a ton of problems, but we don't have it as bad as other countries.

TPH: Right. It really gives you better respect for our country. I literally fell down and kissed the soil when I came back to America. I was fighting a bacteria infection, got some kind of parasite. It just made me really... I'm very proud to be an American. I really am. This is the land of opportunity and hope. You can be nothing and make something of yourself. Look at Tyler Perry. He was homeless and now he owns an empire. When you go away to these other countries, you fall more in love with America. With all the hang-ups that we have and all the problems, it's nothing like the problems in other countries.

What are you filming in China?

TPH: It's the remake of 'The Karate Kid.' It's 'The Kung Fu Kid,' with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, Will and Jada's son.

How was it working with Jaden? Will did some press junkets with him and said that working with his son made him grow as an actor.

TPH: That child is a rock star. He really is. He's a shrunken Will. You know what's so beautiful, he understands that maybe he's not going to act for the rest of his life. I was talking to Jada one day, and she was like, "I don't know if he has the personality to continue to do it." Right now he likes it, and I think he's really getting into this because he loves martial arts. I was like, "You know you're going to be a big star after this, right?" and he said, "Yeah, I know." I said, "All the girls are going to be coming after you." He said, "They already doin' that." Then he said, "Yeah, you know what, Miss Taraji, I don't know if I will continue acting, but I will continue taking kung fu because I love it." He's really good. Jackie Chan is impressed.

Are you going to be in Tyler Perry's next movie, 'For Colored Girls' ?

TPH: Oh, I don't know. I haven't gotten that call. He didn't call me. Hmmm, dream cast, and I'm not in it!