THE
HOTLIST52 | PHOTOGRAPH BY Samuel Trotter
HOT HOLLYWOOD MVPBrian Tyree
Henry
RIAN
Tyree
Henry’s
armpits
are still a
little damp as he breez-
es into a Burbank diner
on an overcast L.A.
afternoon. “Sorry I’m
sweaty,” he says. “I was
feeling a little anxiety
earlier, so I hit the gym
to run it out.”
What did he feel
anxious about? “Ev-
erything!” Henry says.
“You go so long with
everybody turning away
from you, and all of a
sudden they’re turning
toward you — it’s kind of
fucking terrifying.”
After a decade of
hustling in regional-
theater workshops
a world away from
Hollywood, Henry, 37, is
suddenly extremely in
demand. Most famously
he stars in FX’s Atlanta,
as the aspiring rapper
and erstwhile dope
dealer Alfred “Paper
Boi” Miles. He was in
six movies last year
alone — including Steve
McQueen’s Widows (as
a sinister crime boss
turned politician),
Barry Jenkins’ If Beale
Street Could Talk (as a
sweet, haunted ex-con
who’s the film’s moral
center) and Spider-Man:
Into the Spider-Verse (as
Spider-Man’s dad) — and
this year he’ll be in
five more, including a
Child’s Play remake this
summer and a Melissa
McCarthy action-come-
dy at Christmas. In the
midst of all that, he also
found time to guest-star
on NBC’s This Is Us and
co-star in the Broadway
play Lobby Hero, oppo-
site Chris Evans — for
which he was nominat-
ed for an Emmy and a
Tony, respectively.
But if you’re tempted
to think Henry is enjoy-
ing “a moment” — do
try to resist. “People areyoungest of five kids of
a middle-school-teacher
mom and a Vietnam-vet
dad. He studied theater
at Morehouse, the his-
torically black college
in Atlanta, and in grad
training at the Yale
School of Drama. Then
came auditions in New
York — and with them
couch-surfing, unem-
ployment and food
stamps. Eventually, he
found some success on
Broadway, in The Book
of Mormon, but after
his run ended in 2014,
he came close to giving
up. “I was done,” he
says. “I remember
standing in my kitchen
thinking, ‘You’ve got
two options: Either
throw in the towel — or
really go for it.’ ” One
week later, he got the
call for Atlanta.
The next step in
Henry’s career is bona
fide blockbusters — like
Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker
movie, out this fall, or
next year’s Godzilla vs.
Kong, which he just fin-
ished filming. Now that
he has a foothold, he’s
excited to really show
what he can do — not as
a supporting player but
as a leading man: “A lot
of times it’s like, ‘Let’s
give Brian this tertiary
part, the best friend.’
I don’t want that shit
anymore. I don’t want
to be your pinch hitter,
where I come in and
bunt every time because
it’ll get you a run. Let
me swing.” JOSH EELLSalways like, ‘He’s having
a moment, moment,
moment... .’ Shove that
‘moment’ up your ass,”
he says. “I’m really
fucking tired of hearing
that. I’ve been doing
this a long time. Are
y’all saying Meryl Streep
is having a moment? It
frustrates me, because
it implies there’s an
ending — like you’re bet-
ting on me being gone
like that.” He snaps his
fingers. “I don’t want
that. I want to be here
for the long haul.”
To be fair, it’s been
a pretty long haul
already. Henry started
acting in elementary
school in Fayetteville,
North Carolina, the“People are
always like,
‘He’s having
a moment.’
Shove that
up your ass.
I’ve been
doing this a
long time.”B
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