Considering she’s an Academy Award nominated actress with a rack of film projects on her plate, not many were expecting Taraji P. Henson to announce plans to star in the upcoming CBS action/drama series, Person of Interest. The show was created by noted producer and director J.J. Abrams. The pilot for the show was penned by The Dark Knight co-writer, Jonah Nolan.

Their involvement was enough to at least pique Taraji’s interest. In an interview with Collider, the actress explained, “I really wasn’t looking to do television. I prefer doing feature films. But, I heard about it and I got the script, which was so top secret that it was intriguing. Jonah Nolan called me and said that he wanted to work with me.” She added, “He explained that my character wasn’t really written up in the pilot, but he promised me that there was going to be more for my character to do. He seemed so passionate about the project that I read it and I really, really liked the script. I got it, right away.”

After watching the pilot, she described it as “amazing” and was more excited about the project. While she may be now working on television, Taraji still has her sights set on future film roles. When asked about her dream role, she said, “I would love to do a biopic of a famous singer, like Diana Ross or Donna Summer, or an old jazz story that we haven’t seen before. I would love to do that! I would love to play Diana Ross ‘cause she’s an icon. I’m salivating to do that.”

(Photo: Mark Davis/PictureGroup)