*Sinbad has made a remarkable return to acting in Tyler Perry’s Netflix thriller “Straw,” premiering June 6. The 68-year-old, who suffered a life-altering ischemic stroke in October 2020 caused by a blood clot traveling from his heart to his brain, stars as Benny in the whodunit alongside Taraji P. Henson, Sherri Shepherd, Teyana Taylor, Glynn Turman, and Rockmond Dunbar.
As EW reports, at a New York City screening, Perry lauded Sinbad’s determination, saying, “It’s so important to me, as a man, that men want to support and take care of their families. I know it’s been really difficult for him, so to give him this opportunity made me feel amazing. I’m really excited for him. And he delivered.”
In 2022, Sinbad’s family shared an Instagram update with a photo of Sinbad relearning to walk, stating, “He continues to receive therapy, fighting for every inch. His progress is nothing short of remarkable.”
Since then, Sinbad has gradually reemerged, making a virtual appearance at a March 2024 “A Different World” HBCU College Tour event and appearing in person at the Netflix is a Joke Presents: Sinbad Tribute Show in Los Angeles in May 2024, hosted by Doug E. Fresh to benefit the Sinbad Special Needs Trust.
In “Straw,” Henson plays Janiyah, a mother just trying to get through another day while caring for her sick daughter. But what begins as a routine errand to cash a check spirals into a catastrophic ordeal when she’s wrongly accused of attempting a bank robbery. “All she’s trying to do is cash her check and pay for her daughter’s lunch,” Henson told Entertainment Weekly. “If you’re a struggling single mother, you can’t always afford that regular lunch… and kids start teasing your kid. As parents, we feel our children’s pain deeper than them.”
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The official synopsis sets the tone for the emotional and societal weight of the story: A single mother’s world unravels in chaos as her day goes from bad to worse to catastrophic while she struggles to care for her ill daughter. Pushed to the brink by a world that seems indifferent to her existence, she’s forced to confront impossible choices in a society that offers her no safety net.
Filmed in just four days, the production matched the intensity of the narrative. Henson managed to juggle this demanding shoot while still working on her Peacock limited series, “Fight Night.”
“That’s what I like about Tyler Perry, he’s fast, and I can be fast too,” she said. “He knew he had a limited amount of time with me. He used it wisely.”
Henson described the film to Entertainment Weekly as a fresh venture, noting, “This one is a thriller, and I’ve never done a thriller with Tyler, so I was interested in that. There’s a twist that happens that you don’t see coming, a whodunnit, in a sense.”
She highlighted the film’s social commentary, adding, “That seems to be still an ongoing thing in society today. I often see people having mental breakdowns on Instagram, and people post it in jest or making fun of it, but I’m like, at the end of the day, was that person treated like trash, or were they treated like a human who needed help?”
Henson connected deeply with Janiyah’s struggles, reflecting, “I was a struggling mom before. I remember when all I could afford was Hamburger Helper meals. It wasn’t hard for me to reach back to those memories.”
She hopes the film, which underscores how “we’re all one paycheck away” from hardship, fosters empathy in its audience.
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