acting powerhouses: Vivica Fox and Clarence Williams III, who many of us remembers as Prince’s father in Purple Rain and the father in the crime drama/motion picture Sugar Hill. In Empire, he is slated to play music mogul named Huey Jarvis who will be a mentor of Lucious Lyon (played by Terrence Howard).
Vivica is slated to play Taraji P. Henson’s character (Cookie Lyon)’s sister. Although we know during season 1, Cookie’s sister was played by the sassy Why Did I Get Married/ATL’s Tasha Smith, there’s no reason why Cookie wouldn’t have another sassy sister. No word on whether Fox is canceling out Smith or if eventually both dynamic ladies will appear on the show as Cookie’s sisters-together, or no.
Why Empire is winning. Love it or hate it, it just is. And here are 2 mere reasons why:
- They aren’t afraid to be ghetto fabulous and over the top.
While many people claim to be embarrassed by the trite and predictable drama’s premise (record company, slash, drug drama divided by a ghetto-fab fantasy); the fact of the matter is; nobody else on television was doing it. While (on paper) many would cringe at the idea of Empire’s premise, Lee Daniels and his cast brought it to life in a “you’ll just have to see it” kinda way. And well: we see it and it worked.
- The cast is good-looking and just so happens to be talented. For every character in a role that sings, each is out on the road making appearances, or touring as a singer (separate from the role they play). So although Empire is drama/television fantasy; in real life, the artists are debuting/up and coming real singers and are performing gig aside from the show. Although we’ve seen artists on American Idol go out on tour, this [actors playing artists who go out on tour as artists separate from the characters they play] is another first.
Have a sneak peek at season 2’s trailer + their live streaming event held at Carnegie Hall last night!
https://youtu.be/lyr-OuJPxDE
https://youtu.be/60Z45IqW3NI
(Event begins around the 1:01 mark)
Season 2 of Empire premieres on Wed., Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
