Taraji P. Henson says she's amazed to be in 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone'

Ahead of her Broadway debut in Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Taraji P. Henson admits she's feeling and embracing her nerves.

"I'm not nervous," she tells Live with Kelly and Mark. "Here's the thing about nerves: nerves are good. I don't run away from nerves, I lean into them. That must means you're alive."

The play will mark Taraji's first time performing on Broadway, a different experience from when she produced Jaja's African Hair Braiding.

“I was trained in theater, that’s why I’m really good at hosting, you know, the live award shows that I host because it’s the exchange that you have with the audience,” she says. “When you do feature film or television, you don’t know if the joke worked until they yell 'cut' because no one can laugh right away because then you blow the shot, right? But on the theater, oh it’s so alive."

"I love the energy; it's a synergy with the audience," she continues. "The show is different every night. It’s never a picture lock."

Taraji adds that she is very grateful for the opportunity.

“I’m just so amazed to be part of this production," Henson says, noting it was playwright August Wilson's "favorite play." She says that the moment feels circle because she recalls hearing him speak while she was a student at Howard University.

Taraji also credits director and fellow Howard alumni Debbie Allen.

"She put together such a beautiful show," she says. "It’s very spiritual. It’s centered in the spirituality and what he was trying to, you know, convey in this script, you know. The families being displaced, which is happening today. We’re watching it in real time. And it just goes to show how timeless his work is.”

The play opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on April 25.