With Season 2 of ‘Atlanta,’ Brian Tyree Henry found healing in the woods

If you didn’t already know Brian Tyree Henry, who plays up-and-coming rapper Alfred “Paper Boi� Miles in FX’s “Atlanta,� 2018 is the year that changes.

In addition to scoring a Tony nomination this year for his role in Kenneth Lonergan’s “Lobby Hero,� in which he portrayed a security guard officer opposite Chris Evans and Michael Cera, the actor has a string of movie projects on the horizon: next month’s “Hotel Artemis,� opposite friend Sterling K. Brown, Steve McQueen’s “Widows,� alongside Viola Davis, and “White Boy Rick,� which finds him in the company of Matthew McConaughey.

“It’s exhausting, but it’s surreal,� Henry said when asked what it’s like to be him these days during a recent visit to the L.A. Times video studio. “It’s been the most amazing year, you know what I mean? I’ve been working with a lot of great actors and creatives.�

But it’s his breakout role in “Atlanta� that set the train in motion. And its second season, which wrapped earlier this month, saw Henry and his alter ego on similar tracks — navigating newfound fame while also dealing with the grief of losing a parent. (Henry’s mother died in a car accident after Season 1 wrapped.)

In a surreal episode, Henry’s Alfred is in a depressive state on the anniversary of his mother’s death. After a mugging at gunpoint leaves him battered and nearly killed, he seeks refuge in nearby woods, where he comes away with a personal breakthrough about his career and grief.

“Being in the woods was terrifying, and it was really, really dark,� Henry said. “But it was therapeutic in its own way. It really did help me heal… Loss feels like that — you’re in this forest. That’s the crazy thing: Alfred was raised in Atlanta. There is not a corner of Atlanta that he doesn’t know. But when he’s dropped in the woods and he’s completely lost, that’s what it feels like.�

During the conversation, Henry also shared his thoughts on what Paper Boi might have thought of the “This Is America� track and video from Donald Glover’s musical alter ego Childish Gambino, as well as whether McConaughey actually drives a Lincoln. You can watch the full video below.

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