But at a TCA session promoting the second season of “Empire“, Daniels warned reporters not to get his Emmy blast twisted, saying his remarks were taken out of context, attributing the comments to his “twisted sense of humor”. But there’s no question the season’s break-out star was Taraji P. Henson as the show’s scheming, screaming ex-con diva Cookie Lyon.
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The trailer for season two of Empire was revealed on Thursday, with the promo featuring a clip spotlighting the major standoff between siblings Jamal and Hakeem, who are rivalling over which of them will be more successful in the music industry. Let’s go back and understand her mother, her sisters… It’s all good. We got three, guys! “We are blessed. God has blessed me to be employed and to be in front of you right now, and in a show that I enjoy going to work to”.
That’s when Chaiken uttered that quote.
Creator Lee Daniels admitted the increased order for Season 2 – Season 1 had 12 episode – was a bit “terrifying”.
“I’m just always blown away by the stories they come up with”, Henson says. That said, Daniels said he didn’t want “Empire” to be overwhelmed by stunt-casting.
So much for family comes first.
However, Mariah Carey will be appearing, as Daniels announced at the singer’s Walk of Fame ceremony Wednesday. “We talked about it in the room already”. We don’t do ripped-from-the-headline shows. “We do shows that are organic to the world”.
But the new music-based series Daniels is developing for Fox-Star, about a band that forms in Atlanta-won’t be connected to the Empire universe. On the outside, it is still going to be clear to some (at least from a marketing point of view) that Lucious still is Empire Entertainment. “There’s so much ripe story there”. “That in itself is fascinating to me and is stuff that I can relate to”.
“Empire” has raised the profile of African-American actors and proved that a drama with an nearly all-black cast can succeed with mass audiences, Daniels advised those looking for the next “Empire” not to look too narrowly.
Taraji doesn’t think her job is easy in the slightest, but something about the challenge of depicting Cookie, who is often blunt, is scintillating for the thespian.
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Daniels’ only shared two words on the lawsuit: “Bye Felicia”.
