Terrence Howard announces plan to retire from acting

Terrence Howard says he’s ready to hang up his hat…for real this time.

The Oscar-nominated actor announced his decision during a red carpet event for The Best Man: The Final Chapters, an upcoming Hulu series in which he reprises his role as Quentin Spivey. Howard told Entertainment Tonight that the show will serve as his swan song, as he plans to formally retire.

“This is the end for me. I don’t know if it’s the end for the rest of them,” he said. “I retired two years ago, for the most part. I was done. … I asked Sidney Poitier 10 years ago, does he want to do any more work, and he said, ‘Why would I spend my last 10 years doing an impersonation of myself?’ And that’s what I’ve gotten to.”

Howard made similar comments back in 2019, claiming he would step away from acting after the conclusion of Fox’s hit series Empire. However, the 53-year-old has appeared in multiple projects, including the 2021 drama Triumph, 2022’s The Walk, and the aforementioned The Best Man series, which premieres Dec. 22 on Peacock.

Howard made similar comments back in 2019, claiming he would step away from acting after the conclusion of Fox’s hit series Empire. However, the 53-year-old has appeared in multiple projects, including the 2021 drama Triumph, 2022’s The Walk, and the aforementioned The Best Man series, which premieres Dec. 22 on Peacock.

“I’ve gotten to the point where now I’ve given the very best that I have as an actor,” Howard continued, before praising the younger generation of talent. “Now I’m enjoying watching other new talent come around, and I don’t want to do an impersonation of myself. … Yes, there’s some better actors out there that can do things that I was never able to do. So I want to applaud them, I want to be excited about what they do.”

Howard began his acting career in the early 1990s, landing small-screen roles in All My Children and The Jacksons: An American Dream miniseries. The Chicago native would go on to appear in critically acclaimed films like Dead Presidents, Crash, Iron Man, and Hustle & Flow. The latter of which earned him a Best Actor nomination at the 78th annual Academy Awards.

During the red carpet appearance for the Peacock series The Best Man: The Final Chapters at the Hollywood Athletic Club in Los Angeles, the 53-year-old actor divulged to ET’s Kevin Frazier why he’s calling it a career, and this time for real. But if this all sounds familiar, it’s because fans will recall Howard made similar statements in 2019 as the final season of Empire neared.

At the time, Howard told ET he was “running away as quickly as possible” when the hit Fox series ended. Since then, Howard has appeared in numerous projects, including The Best Man series, streaming Dec. 22 on Peacock. This time around, Howard is adamant he’s walking away from Hollywood for good.

“This is the end for me. This is the end for me. I don’t know if it’s the end for the rest of them,” he said. “I retired two years ago, for the most part. I was done. … I asked Sidney Poitier 10 years ago does he want to do any more work, and he said, ‘Why would I spend my last 10 years doing an impersonation of myself?’ And that’s what I’ve gotten to.”

He continued, “I’ve gotten to the point where now I’ve given the very best that I have as an actor. Now I’m enjoying watching other new talent come around, and I don’t want to do an impersonation of myself.”

Howard doubled down when asked if he was ready to hand the reins over.

“Yes, there’s some better actors out there that can do things that I was never able to do,” he said. “So, I want to applaud them, I want to be excited about what they do.”

Howard’s storied career includes a 2006 Oscar nomination for Best Actor following his role in Hustle & Flow. Howard made his acting debut in 1992 as Jackie Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream. He’d go on to earn roles on All My Children, and in films such as Mr. Holland’s Opus, Dead Presidents, Who’s the Man, and Four Brothers. More recently, he earned accolades for playing Lucious Lyon on Empire, which ended after six seasons in 2020.

Howard also dabbled a bit in the Marvel universe, when he took on the role of James “Rhodey” Rhodes in the first Iron Man film, which also starred Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. Howard was ultimately replaced with Don Cheadle in the Iron Man franchise following a salary dispute. In a 2013 interview on Watch What Happens Live, Howard got candid about how it all transpired while taking a thinly veiled jab at Downey Jr.