Brian Tyree Henry dropped by Seth Meyers’ Late Night to talk about Henry’s starring role in the film Widows. But along the way, the two discussed their shared celebrity obsession: Rihanna.
According to Henry, Rihanna made him cry recently, at her Diamond Ball in September. Henry had gone as a guest of Donald Glover’s and was watching Donald perform when Henry spotted Rihanna near the corner of the stage. “All I’m thinking in my mind is like looking at Donald going crazy, but looking at her, but I keep…I couldn’t...the whole time I’m like trying to,” he said, stuttering while gesturing that he was trying to look at both the stage, where Donald was performing, and where Rihanna was standing.
“Then she waved at me, and then she did this,” Brian said, making a heart with his hands over his chest. “And I started crying,” he said, laughing. “I started crying!” he exclaimed.
He continued, “I don’t wear makeup but I watch her Fenty beauty tutorials every morning. She needs to start a church 'cause I will happily join that church.” he said, then looking right at the camera to say, “Rihanna, I love you, just so you know. I will buy all the stock in Fenty.” He added, “I want her to win. She’s already winning.”
Henry and Meyers also discussed the sighting of Teddy Perkins during this year’s Emmys. Perkins is a character who was introduced during the second season of Atlanta, and was played by Glover.
However, Henry still isn’t sure who put on all that makeup to play Perkins at the Emmys. “I don’t want any part of it,” Henry told Meyers. “I was sitting next to Zazie [Beetz] and I looked at her and I was like ‘Is that Teddy Perkins? So where’s Donald? Oh, there’s Donald right there.’ She’s like, ‘It’s gotta be Keith.’ I was like, ‘Keith is behind you!’ So we all started this group thread and said, ‘Who is Teddy Perkins?'”
Henry is also set to appear in the new animated flick Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. But he shared that Spider-Man isn’t his favorite superhero—the Hulk is. Henry explained, “The Hulk is a scientist first of all. Brilliant, brilliant scientist. And the fact that people think that you have to make him angry to make him hulk out but the thing is, he’s always angry. So actually his super strength is tolerating your ass. So I think it’s incredible that this brilliant scientist is constantly in a place where he is trying to hold back from hulking out on you. So I’m like if you really make the Hulk hulk out, you really a douche.”
Widows is out on Friday, while Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hits theaters on Dec. 14.
