Taraji P. Henson Gets Nostalgic About 'String Bean' Body, Instagram Says 'So Fine'

Gettyimages | Rich Fury

"Empire" actress Taraji P. Henson is taking a walk down memory lane on Instagram this weekend, posting a series of pictures of the time she was in school and had what she calls a 'string bean' body.

Her 16 million Instagram fans are in love with the bombshell pics. Many hollered that Taraji was 'so fine' back then and posing so much like a model, they can't believe she turned to acting instead.

Best known for her portrayal as the fiercely outspoken Cookie Lyons in "Empire", Henson also received an Academy Award for her portrayal as a single mother of a disabled child in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".

Taraji P. Henson / Instagram

This is one young Taraji, in her college days, with a love for strange outfits and shoes.

Snoop Dogg commented, "T t before Yvette n Cookie came to life", Cookie being Cookie Lyons from the TV series "Empire" and Yvette from the emotional baby mama Taraji played in “Baby Boy", the followup to John Singleton’s “Boyz n the Hood.”

The cutest comment had to be, "They those wicked witch of the west shoes ? but you still look pretty!", and lots of people agreed with it.

This is how she rolls today...

Taraji P. Henson / Instagram

Then came this picture, and Taraji reminisced about her friend in it, writing, "Me and my best friend TO THIS DAY‼️ @traciejade Posted up at the water park! #WeThoughtWeWereModels ? YOU MADE ME SICK bae cause you had BAWDY and I was a string bean ? You still couldn’t tell me shiaT!!!!"

String bean or not, Taraji looks hot here, and one commenter was slain enough to say, "you betta pose. So weird that you chose acting......!

To this came a reply, "when it's in you, it's in you"... Fair enough, and thing is, she's only grown hotter...

Taraji P. Henson / Instagram

Taraji also posted a school pic, like another trip down memory lane, of her being crowned the homecoming queen. She wrote, "she did her own hair. colored (dark and lovely #honeyBlond) ??? and styled by Taraji".

A bowled over fan wrote, "YESSS PEARLS?? YESSSS ASYMMETRICAL CUT? YESSSS HOMECOMING QUEEN that’s really a life long crown!!!!!!!!"

Another had a problem with the dark and lovely hair color and wrote, "that dark and lovely honey blonde had me looking like a brown crayon on my driver license??? you couldn’t tell me nothing back then".

Luckily, red works on Taraji as well!

Taraji P. Henson / Instagram

Taraji also shared a lot of kiddie pics on her Instagram, but its the coltish teenage ones that seem to have the most likes and comment.

Like this one here that she captioned as, "My other hittah TO THIS DAY @pam_c_collins She was grown I WAS NOT but she let me hang anyway".

Her nostalgia trip seemed to put fans and followers in the same mood as well as one shared, "I remember the Ritz!!! Chapter 3, H2O, the Legend....well I never went in. ? hanging out at Haynes Point & getting stuck in traffic. K Street Lounge, Republic Gardens, Dream then Love, Blossoms!!!!"...

Here's Taraji graduating, with her boy in her arms, as a response to all those who believed she couldn't. More power to her!