TCA: Terrence Howard on Building an “Empire”

Lucious is the patriarch of Empire returning to Fox on Sept 27 for its fourth season of music madness and melodrama amp160The Lyons family dynamics make The Sopranos look like The Waltons amp160Howard who has done Broadway films and TV never expected Empire would be a hitamp8220I looked at it and said amp8216Itamp8217s not going to make itamp8217amp8221 he recalls ofamp160reading the pilot amp8220The father in the pilot is a drug dealer wanting to become a rapper amp160He throws his son in the garbage can then beats his son with a broomstick and another son makes out with another guyamp8221Being gay was a bigger stumbling block than dealing drugs Howard notes figuring that at least in the beginning Empire would attract a predominately black audienceamp8220The moment they show two guys making out everyone will turn the channelamp8221 Howard assumed amp160amp8220It was worth 125000 an episode his original pay amp160I never thought it would get picked up amp160Homosexuality within the black community is a taboo subject amp160No way would my father have let me watch this showamp8221Yet the show caught fire amp160Its second season premiere event was at a packed Carnegie Hall where fans lined the streets and paid to watch an episode amp160amp8220I was so surprised when we hit numbers of 24 million viewersamp8221 Howard says amp160amp8220I know the majority were black people amp160Now we have grownamp8221As has Empire the fictional music company on the show amp160Thereamp8217s plenty of court intrigue with the sons plotting against the father amp160Last season Cookie played by the divine Taraji P Henson Luciousamp8217 exwife business partner and rival itamp8217s complicated destroyed his officesPlot lines are intricate and stars drop in such as Leslie Uggams playing Luciousamp8217 mother who makes Lady Macbeth seem cuddly amp160Phylicia Rashad plays the imperious mother of Taye Diggs who was Cookieamp8217s beau amp160Empire is steeped in loves and hates mental and physical illnesses and the sort of internecine battles that fueled medieval fiefdomsDevoted fans of the show handicap whose head will be on the guillotine next and what rampage Cookie will go on but not Howard amp160He says he doesnamp8217t meddle in the writersamp8217 room amp160Rather he learns about the stories when they gather as a castamp8220I donamp8217t read the script until the table readamp8221 he says amp160amp8220I used to believe in preparing for a character for two to three monthsamp8221 amp160Over the years though Howard found it more effective to react in the moment amp160amp8220I find I am more organized and I listen more actively and intelligently and I respond more instinctivelyamp8221When the actors gathered for the first table read of the upcoming season they were so delighted with the script that upon finishing they broke into spontaneous applause he says amp160They were pleased by where the story went but during a Television Critics Association panel earlier in the day executive producers Lee Daniels pictured above in blue suit and Ilene Chaiken far right next to executive producer Sanaa Hamri seemed more likely to give up a major organ than a spoilerTheir reticence however couldnamp8217t douse the genuine playfulness between longtime friends Henson third from left and Howard second from left next to costar Jussie Smollett during the sessionamp8220Iamp8217m not competing with you Terrenceamp8221 she laughedamp8220Iamp8217m competing with youamp8221 he counteredWhile Cookie has gone from a woman who did 17 years in prison to reclaiming her executive role in the company and discovering other men Howard does not see Lucious as growing and likens playing him to being in Groundhog Day an unusual assessment coming from an actoramp8220I donamp8217t personally see Lucious as evolvingamp8221 Howard says amp160amp8220Everyone saw him as a bad person amp160Heamp8217s been dealing with emotional things from him being emotionally orphaned at 9 amp160His mother tried to drown him amp160What happened to him on the streetamp8221He contrasts Lucious with Brick from the all AfricanAmerican revival of amp8220Cat on a Hot Tin Roofamp8221 in 2008 amp160amp8220I learned something with Brick every dayamp8221 he says of costarring on Broadway with Rashad and James Earl JonesHoward pauses and says very quietly amp8220I learned more in that moment than in any moment in my lifeamp8221 amp160Jones long a master of his craft still turned to others in the cast soliciting advice amp160He would ask amp8220Do you have any ideas about thisamp8221 amp160Howard recalls Now Howard seeks opinions from the cast and crewOne of Howardamp8217s biggest challenges on set is keeping those famous green eyes dry amp160amp8220I try so hard not to cry in a sceneamp8221 he says amp160amp8220Lucious is still that little boy amp160I hate playing the character amp160He never has a good dayamp8221Brooding as Lucious may be Henson cracks Howard up amp160amp8220I can be in the worst possible mood and Taraji will do something and delight me amp160One day she was reading online and it said amp8216Taraji P Henson is an iconamp8217 amp160And she said amp8216Donamp8217t look at me amp160Look at the floor bitch amp160I am an iconamp8217 amp160Half the time I am waiting to see what Taraji will doamp8221Just the memory of that moment makes Howard chuckle amp160He needs to head home in the morning the cast starts taping the fourth episode of the fourth season a tribute to PrinceHoward considers Luciousamp8217 future amp160amp8220I hope Lucious ends up in a happy placeamp8221 he says amp160amp8220But I know most of the time in life the things we are looking for are hard to find amp160He made hard choices and he always does it for his family amp160I think that makes him a heroamp8221Click on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of 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TCA: Terrence Howard on Building an “Empire”

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Jacqueline Cutler

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TCA: Terrence Howard on Building an “Empire”

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Jacqueline Cutler

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