AceShowbiz - Taraji P. Henson will always be proud of her performance in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", because it proved she was worthy of the $500,000 (£388,000) salary she requested - but didn't get.

The actress was Oscar nominated for her role opposite Brad Pitt in the 2008 movie, but now reveals movie bosses refused to pay her what she asked for.

"I didn't even ask for one million," the Empire star tells NET-A-PORTER's weekly digital magazine, PorterEdit, "but I had to see the bigger picture and bite that bullet. I knew that if I kept my ego in check I would get the victory."

"That performance was undeniable. I turned in an Academy-worthy f**king performance. And what did they say? 'We shoulda paid her'."

Taraji insists her role as Queenie in the film, which also featured Cate Blanchett and Julia Ormond, made Hollywood bosses sit up and take notice when they were negotiating her film and TV deals.

"(I'd say), 'They wanna pay what? Honey, a zero is missing. Tell them to go find it then call me back...'," Henson adds. "If you come to Taraji P. Henson, you need to come with that money, because I earned it."

The actress also opened up about a being a single mother in Hollywood, following the murder of her son's father in 2003, telling PorterEdit it has been tough playing mum and dad to her boy.

"It's hard," she says. "I dreamed he would go stay with his dad in his teens, or my dad. I didn't date. I wondered, 'Does he have enough confidence in himself as a black man?'"

Modeling closet classics, actress @TherealTaraji talks to #PorterEdit about being paid her dues, leaving #Empire on a high, and why new movie #WhatMenWant is the #MeToo moment she’s been waiting for. Read the exclusive interview now: https://t.co/aQlKsZcEwZpic.twitter.com/4BSARMBU84

— PORTER magazine (@PORTERmagazine) January 18, 2019

"I wouldn't wish being a single mother on my worst enemy. You need both parents."