Lee Daniels: The Brains Behind "EMPIRE"

Where does a television series like "Empire" come from? Who envisions and creates characters, writes the script? Is there one writer, two...or more?

These are questions the viewer probably raises after watching an episode of "Empire", the blockbuster made-for-television first-run series that debuted on FOX this year, in 2015.


To answer your question of who created "Empire", it was a collaboration effort between Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, an American actor who wrote the screenplay for "The Butler", the 2013 film directed by Daniels, starring Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker.

Core players in the musical drama feature a-list talent from all walks of Hollywood and entertainment life to the new kids on the block.

In an interview with Don Lemon, Lee Daniels refers to the scene where Lucious gets angry when Jamal switches into the room wearing heels and a scarf on his head. He talks about how he couldn't direct that scene; it was too painful. Viewers wonder if Daniels, who is openly gay, added the scene of Lucious putting Jamal into the trash can because something similar happened to him (Daniels).

Established actors like Terrence Howard plays the cold-hearted "Lucious Lyon", a billionaire music mogul who continued building the family music dynasty after his wife, "Cookie" goes to prison, leaving him with three small boys to raise.

Lucious is also a ladies' man, a playboy of the first order who tosses women aside as quickly as he pulled them close--if it benefits his cause.He's the man you love to hate.

And what of the beautiful fireball-with-a-sweetness, Lucious Lyon's ex-con wife and mother of his three boys, "Cookie Lyon"? Taraji P. Henson. She's a no-nonsense rough-neck diva who can be as sweet as honey or she can be a nightmare on Elm Street.

Oh yeah. She's the mother who beat her son with a broomstick for calling her a bitch; and the pissed-off, abandoned wife who slung "boo-boo kitty" across a pool table for "disrespecting" her.

This gorgeous hunk plays the oldest of the "Lyon" litter, "Andre Lyon", the brilliant high-powered attorney handling the music empire's legal affairs, who is also bipolar. Trai Byers does a hell of a job.

He comes from a musical family but thinks his father doesn't give him control of "Empire" because he isn't musically inclined. Instead of pursuing music, Andre chose to get a law degree, so he can "be accepted" by white peers.

Jussie Smollet is the easy-on-the-eyes voice of the Lyon clan. Lucious and Cookie's middle son, "Jamal Lyon", is gay; and also has the biggest balls. Of the three, he has demonstrated the most grit, fire, and determination.

He held his dad's nemesis over the edge of a balcony that was at least twenty stories up; proving to the cold-as-ice family patriarch that he had the juice to run the "Empire".

Bryshere Gray plays the unpolished, rough-around-the-edges bad-boy rapper, "Hakeem Lyon", Lucious' choice to run "Empire" perhaps because he can't imagine choosing a gay to run the hot music dynasty. However, Hakeem's appetite for booze and partying makes him vulnerable to the lifestyle and negative publicity.

Hakeem Lyon is a smoky performer in his own right; and while suffering from the "mama" syndrome, commands attention on the stage.

These are the members of the Lyon family, the "Empire" dynasty. Other supporting cast members, unnamed in this article, are no less important; and are essential to each episode's storyline.

Viewers have to adjust to filling that Thursday-night time slot with something worthy; but what? "Empire" is a hard act to follow. It's actually hard to imagine next season's run to top the debut season. It's definitely a wait-and-see moment.
Copyright 2015 by Peggy Hatchet James