“Atlanta” Star Brian Tyree Henry Opens Up About Welcoming Success While Mourning The Loss Of his Mother: “I Can’t Really Rejoice In What I Did, Because I’m Still In Pain”

Brian Tyree Henry is one of Hollywood’s latest rising stars. He is on the hit show “Atlanta,” alongside #DonaldGlover, and is starring in the highly anticipated upcoming films “Widows” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.” With so many achievements, fans would think he has nothing to be sad about, but for Henry, fame will never overshadow the pain he still feels following the death of his mother #WillowDeaneKearse.

During an interview with GQ magazine, the Fayetteville, NC native opened up about enduring fame while overcoming the loss of his mother. On May 12, 2016, just four days after Mother’s Day and one day after Atlanta’s first season wrap party; Henry’s mother lost her life in a traffic accident. Since then, Henry has struggled with being fully happy about his own success – even his Emmy nomination.

“What kills me is everyone’s like, ‘How do you feel about this Emmy nomination?’” “My mother’s dead. Every time I close my eyes, I see my hand on her casket. Every time I close my eyes, I hear my necklace bang on her casket. That’s the last time I saw her. That’s the only thing that gets me out of bed, and it’s sometimes the thing that keeps me in it. So being busy helps, but y’all don’t understand. If she’s not here to see it, I don’t really get a chance to rejoice in it. You know what I mean? I’ve buried a person every year for three years. I lost my best friend to cancer; then I lost my other best friend the next year to lupus. And I lost my mom to a fucking car accident. She wasn’t even sick. She died in the most awful fucking way. So it’s like… I haven’t had a chance to even think about that.”

He continued, “But I still have to survive. I like to believe that all these blessings are them. But it would be really nice to look to my left and see my mother sitting there when they call my name. You know? And I’m being real fucking real with you. It’s hard to do this stuff. It’s just like she died yesterday, man. I haven’t even looked at a photograph of my mom since she died. I can’t look at her. And yet people are still celebrating and lauding this thing that I did about my mom. When, at the end of the day, I can’t really rejoice in what I did, because I’m still in pain.”