By Rita Chioma

It is so glaring that Taraji P Henson’s life has not been the same since the birth of the character, Cookie.

The 45-year-old actress revealed this during a one-on-one interview with Ryan Reynolds as part of Variety‘s “Actors on Actors.”

“You’re walking down the street and they’re just like, ‘Hey Cookie.’ Maybe I didn’t want the world to see how I looked today, maybe I wore these sweats yesterday,” Henson said.

“It was fine until Cookie came, I was okay under the radar, I could go to Target. I never saw that coming. I go from this normal life to having to find a house on a private gated road, it’s crazy. I love to people-watch. I love to go to the park. But I can’t. Everybody’s watching me. I’ve tried wigs, I’ve tried shades. I’ve tried it all,” Henson adds.

On “Empire,” Taraji plays Cookie Lyon, the outspoken ex-wife and mother of Lucious Lyon’s (Terrence Howard) three sons,  who served a 17-year stretch in prison for drug dealing.

It has indeed been an interesting year for Taraji P Henson, who returned as Cookie Lyon in third season of “Empire.”

She plays NASA mathematician, Katherine Johnson in upcoming autobiography “Hidden Figures,” and got her third Emmy nomination.