The singer-songwriter-actress talks with THR about her renewed focus on acting and what to expect from her recurring role on the Fox hip-hop drama.
One of the things Lee Daniels and Danny Strong’s hip-hop soap opera Empire is becoming known for — aside from its record-breaking ratings — is its growing roster of iconic musical guest stars. And in Wednesday’s episode, “Out Damned Spot,” the streak continues when the Fox drama introduces recurring guest Courtney Love as Elle Dallas, another acclaimed member of the Empire Entertainment roster.
“Back in the day, I wouldn’t play rock stars. I got offered a lot of [those] parts, and I turned them down, but it’s a new time, and it’s a new dawn, and I’m really committed to doing this full-time whether it be theater or television or film,” Love told The Hollywood Reporter of her acting aspirations, which also recently included FX’s Sons of Anarchy.THR caught up with Love to discuss joining Fox’s breakout drama and what to expect from her character.
How did the idea of appearing on Empire first come up? Was there ever consideration of coming on in a cameo role, as opposed to taking on a fictional character?
I had been hearing from different friends for about two years that Lee had wanted to work with me or was talking about working with me — we know a lot of the same people and we’ve both been aroundalong time — and I have a friend who implored me to text him. I felt really weird about it. … This was about four or five months ago, and I texted him, and he called me immediately and said, “I think I have a part for you.” We talked about what the part would entail, but it was nevera question of being a cameo or anything like that. He had given me the character’s name and the back story and all that … and then I didn’t hear from him for about three or four weeks and he called me … and the back story had changed in the writers’ room, but it’s liquid when you do TV. And that was that.
What was the back story originally?She was always going to be Elle Dallas [but] she was supposed to be R&B royalty, but I’m not a R&B singer; I’m a rock singer. It was kind of funny; he had given me a Labelle song to sing, and I think the crew at Fox is still cringing because I tried singing this Labelle song [“Messin’ With My Mind”], and I just can’t; it’s not my thing! (Laughs.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UpxkZfHwOY
And how would you describe Elle when the Empire audience actually meets her? (cont’d)
