What do men want? It's the age-old question women have been asking themselves for years! After what may seem like an eternity, super-producer Will Packer descends from movie heaven with the verdict.
In the highly anticipated film, What Men Want, Will Packer teams up with Hollywood's newest Walk of Fame star Taraji P. Henson, Tracy Morgan, and Erykah Badu to flip the script on a classic plot.
In the film, Henson delivers a hilarious performance as Ali Davis, a successful sports agent who can't seem to connect with men. In order for Ali to become the first black female partner at her male-dominated firm, she must crack the unspoken man code. While attending a risqué bridal shower, Ali receives the ultimate read from a slightly unorthodox psychic, played by none other than Ms. Erykah Badu. After drinking a heaping portion of jasmine tea (mixed with a few illegal substances), Ali can now hear men's inner thoughts.
Related: Taraji P. Henson's 'What Men Want' Sends A Powerful Message To Women
Taraji P. Henson at the 'What Men Want' Special Atlanta ScreeningMarcus Ingram/Getty Images
During a special Atlanta Tastemaker Screening, xoNecole caught up with the film's star Taraji P. Henson and co-producer Will Packer on the red carpet to find out what they believe is the biggest misconception most women have about men.
"I think the biggest misconception is thinking they want something totally different than we want," Taraji revealed. "I think all humans want security when it comes to relationships. They want unconditional love. They want a mother's love. That's what everybody wants - to feel safe, to have a home to go to. To have somewhere to share their darkest secrets, to feel vulnerable."
Producer Will Packer and wife Heather Hayslett at the 'What Men Want' Special Atlanta ScreeningMarcus Ingram/Getty Images
Super-producer Will Packer assures women everywhere that understanding men isn't rocket science, it's actually quite simple:
"Women probably think men are more complex than we are. I think you guys know that we are pretty simple. I don't think you know how simple we are. That's all I am going to say. Men are simple and easy. We have to counterbalance the complexity that you guys have. All we do is try to get through life with the least amount of work possible."
'What Men Want' Special Atlanta ScreeningMarcus Ingram/Getty Images
It's clear Taraji knows a thing or two about what men want, considering the glacier on her left hand from fiancé Kelvin Hayden. We asked the bride-to-be to spill the tea on her big day.
"I haven't even set a date yet," Taraji shared. "I'm not going to stress myself. When I have a date, I'll let you know."
As for her dress, the color white is the furthest option from Taraji's mind. "I'm just thinking color. I don't want to wear white," she divulged.
What Men Want is a woman-centric cinematic event that you don't want to miss, so make sure you catch it in theaters February 8th!
Click below for a slideshow of the screening's attendees.
Taraji P. Henson & James Lopez
All images by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images.
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- 'What Men Want' Trailer: Taraji P. Henson On A Trip To The Male ... ›
- Will Packer Speaks On “WHAT MEN WANT” With Taraji P. Henson ... ›
- 'What Men Want' Movie: Taraji P. Henson To Star In 'What Woman ... ›
- Will Packer's What Men Want Is More Than a Mel Gibson Reboot ... ›
- EXCLUSIVE: Taraji P. Henson and Will Packer on 'What Men Want' ›
- Will Packer & Taraji P. Henson Break Down The Magic Of 'What Men ›
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak
