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Lucious Lyon
Lucious Lyon (born Dwight Walker) is a fictional character from the Fox drama series Empire, portrayed by Terrence Howard. Lucious is the main protagonist and anti-hero of the series. Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Lucious is the founder and CEO of Empire Entertainment, a record company that he runs with his family. Realizing he will need a successor after he is diagnosed with ALS, Lucious pits his three sons: the college-educated executive Andre Lyon (Trai Byers), the talented and gay singer-songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and youngest, rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray), against one another. The story has parallels to William Shakespeare's King Lear and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter, while the character of a rapper and music mogul is loosely based on several real-life figures, including rappers, record producers and politicians. Lyon is married to former wife, drug dealer, ex-con, and former partner of Empire Entertainment, Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).
"The Jay Z story, which very much inspired Lucious Lyon, certain elements of Lucious Lyon, was that story. For me the story of people who have some sort of criminal past, or gangster past are not limited to black culture. ... Our goal is to tell a great story, and to do the best show we can. You can cross the line and just be totally inappropriate, but we're not doing that. ... You know, Joe Kennedy too, is another (person who rose to power from a criminal past)."
Creator Lee Daniels took influence from his own father in creating the character: "Lucious is a lot of my dad." Daniels also drew inspiration from several well respected men in the music industry including "Berry Gordy to Gamble and Huff to Jay Z to Puffy to Quincy Jones." Howard described himself as "megalomaniac" to which Lee Daniels responded, "The character's a megalomaniac." Howard replied in turn, "You need to be a megalomaniac to play a megalomaniac." When they started production, Howard thought to play Lucious with his "head down or be softhearted about something," but Daniels stated that "Lucious owns the world." Howard said the first few episodes are basically him doing an impersonation of Daniels. Howard also drew on inspiration from the 1972 film, The Godfather. "[Lucious] wants to be Michael Corleone, but sometimes he's stuck at being Sonny." Lucious does his best to "get rid of his emotions," Howard said. However, his emotions always sneak up on him and "keep him human." Howard had some admiration for his character. "I love that Lucious is unapologetic about who he is" and that he has a "backbone of pure determination." However, Howard said what rubs him the wrong way about Lucious is his "inability to connect with the people that really mean the most to him."
"The whole idea just flooded through my head: I’d do it like King Lear or The Lion in Winter. Make the main character like a dying king, and he’s got three sons."
In an interview Howard said "for me to play a character that is Archie Bunker, or really the rest of America unmasked, Lucious says exactly how he feels when he feels it... And despite who's watching because he has five billion dollars and doesn't need anybody's approval." Howard is allowed to play someone who is "brutally, objectively and subjectively honest, in every circumstance."
On February 19, 2014, it was announced that Academy Award-nominated actor Terrence Howard had been in cast in the role of Lucious Lyon, the head of Empire Entertainment, which he is about to take public. Howard had recently appeared in Lee Daniels and Danny Strong's 2013 film The Butler. On taking the role, Howard explained that there is no longer a "distinction" between the stage, film or television. He had done movies, but stated that "the work I find on this show is more challenging than 90 percent of the roles in film, and that's what you want as an artist." Those challenges helped Howard grow as an artist. Daniels admitted that he did have another actor besides Terrence Howard in mind for the role, and initially refused to disclose the actor's name. He later admitted that the other actor was Wesley Snipes, but Taraji P. Henson, who had already been in talks with the producers to play Cookie, suggested her former co-star Howard for the role. Otherwise, Henson would have declined her role. Howard and Henson worked together on the 2005 independent film, Hustle & Flow, for which Howard received his Academy Award nomination. "He had to be incredibly charming and charismatic and likable," Danny Strong said of any actor playing Lucious. While Henson recommended Howard because she thought he "classed up this whole hip-hop thing," Daniels had not initially been impressed with Howard. Daniels initially thought Howard was "too pretty," and accredited the 1998 film Spark with changing his mind about Howard as an actor. But Daniels was still hesitant; "I didn't think Terrence was interested in TV." However, Howard said he agreed to the role because he enjoyed working with Daniels on The Butler. "Anywhere you go, I'm going," Howard told Daniels. After Howard first read the script, he was very skeptical of the show and its portrayal of homosexuality. He initially referred to the script as "crap" and said that he wasn't sure how "ready the world was" to be shown "two black men kissing." Howard later admitted that he was "so wrong," saying that "[The homophobic environment]'s the environment I grew up in. That's the environment my friends grew up in. So this is a show aimed towards the black demographic. And do you really think that this is going to fly?" Howard even personally called Fox and told them, "'You need to take the kissing out, because this is going to stop, shut down the show."
In response to the controversy surrounding his casting and whether he should have been excluded from the project because of his alleged past, Howard said "I hope that nothing will take away from the truly special project we all worked so hard on. I hope people enjoy it because it has been such a wonderful experience working with this cast and Fox." Danny Strong admitted that he was not made aware of Howard's past until several months into the project. Strong said that while he did not condone Howard's alleged past behavior, "it is the polar opposite of what I've experienced with him, one-on-one and on set." Producer Brian Grazer put faith in Howard to "do right." Howard is a "guy that cares a lot... and he's been great with us on our sets, so I can only speak to that," Grazer continued. Fox executive Dana Walden described Howard as "a great partner." Walden explained that while it was the choice of the creators to hire Howard, the actor had impressed her and her co-chair Gary Newman. Walden also admitted that she and Newman were not made aware of the allegations until December 2014. By that time, Howard had been working with the network for nearly a year and showed no signs of trouble.
"I've never seen a character on prime-time television that was outright homophobic, that didn't hide it, that hated white people, that didn't hide it, that was a beast to his children and didn't hide it... I've never had the opportunity to do that."
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Lucious Lyon
Lucious Lyon (born Dwight Walker) is a fictional character from the Fox drama series Empire, portrayed by Terrence Howard. Lucious is the main protagonist and anti-hero of the series. Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Lucious is the founder and CEO of Empire Entertainment, a record company that he runs with his family. Realizing he will need a successor after he is diagnosed with ALS, Lucious pits his three sons: the college-educated executive Andre Lyon (Trai Byers), the talented and gay singer-songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett), and youngest, rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray), against one another. The story has parallels to William Shakespeare's King Lear and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter, while the character of a rapper and music mogul is loosely based on several real-life figures, including rappers, record producers and politicians. Lyon is married to former wife, drug dealer, ex-con, and former partner of Empire Entertainment, Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).
"The Jay Z story, which very much inspired Lucious Lyon, certain elements of Lucious Lyon, was that story. For me the story of people who have some sort of criminal past, or gangster past are not limited to black culture. ... Our goal is to tell a great story, and to do the best show we can. You can cross the line and just be totally inappropriate, but we're not doing that. ... You know, Joe Kennedy too, is another (person who rose to power from a criminal past)."
Creator Lee Daniels took influence from his own father in creating the character: "Lucious is a lot of my dad." Daniels also drew inspiration from several well respected men in the music industry including "Berry Gordy to Gamble and Huff to Jay Z to Puffy to Quincy Jones." Howard described himself as "megalomaniac" to which Lee Daniels responded, "The character's a megalomaniac." Howard replied in turn, "You need to be a megalomaniac to play a megalomaniac." When they started production, Howard thought to play Lucious with his "head down or be softhearted about something," but Daniels stated that "Lucious owns the world." Howard said the first few episodes are basically him doing an impersonation of Daniels. Howard also drew on inspiration from the 1972 film, The Godfather. "[Lucious] wants to be Michael Corleone, but sometimes he's stuck at being Sonny." Lucious does his best to "get rid of his emotions," Howard said. However, his emotions always sneak up on him and "keep him human." Howard had some admiration for his character. "I love that Lucious is unapologetic about who he is" and that he has a "backbone of pure determination." However, Howard said what rubs him the wrong way about Lucious is his "inability to connect with the people that really mean the most to him."
"The whole idea just flooded through my head: I’d do it like King Lear or The Lion in Winter. Make the main character like a dying king, and he’s got three sons."
In an interview Howard said "for me to play a character that is Archie Bunker, or really the rest of America unmasked, Lucious says exactly how he feels when he feels it... And despite who's watching because he has five billion dollars and doesn't need anybody's approval." Howard is allowed to play someone who is "brutally, objectively and subjectively honest, in every circumstance."
On February 19, 2014, it was announced that Academy Award-nominated actor Terrence Howard had been in cast in the role of Lucious Lyon, the head of Empire Entertainment, which he is about to take public. Howard had recently appeared in Lee Daniels and Danny Strong's 2013 film The Butler. On taking the role, Howard explained that there is no longer a "distinction" between the stage, film or television. He had done movies, but stated that "the work I find on this show is more challenging than 90 percent of the roles in film, and that's what you want as an artist." Those challenges helped Howard grow as an artist. Daniels admitted that he did have another actor besides Terrence Howard in mind for the role, and initially refused to disclose the actor's name. He later admitted that the other actor was Wesley Snipes, but Taraji P. Henson, who had already been in talks with the producers to play Cookie, suggested her former co-star Howard for the role. Otherwise, Henson would have declined her role. Howard and Henson worked together on the 2005 independent film, Hustle & Flow, for which Howard received his Academy Award nomination. "He had to be incredibly charming and charismatic and likable," Danny Strong said of any actor playing Lucious. While Henson recommended Howard because she thought he "classed up this whole hip-hop thing," Daniels had not initially been impressed with Howard. Daniels initially thought Howard was "too pretty," and accredited the 1998 film Spark with changing his mind about Howard as an actor. But Daniels was still hesitant; "I didn't think Terrence was interested in TV." However, Howard said he agreed to the role because he enjoyed working with Daniels on The Butler. "Anywhere you go, I'm going," Howard told Daniels. After Howard first read the script, he was very skeptical of the show and its portrayal of homosexuality. He initially referred to the script as "crap" and said that he wasn't sure how "ready the world was" to be shown "two black men kissing." Howard later admitted that he was "so wrong," saying that "[The homophobic environment]'s the environment I grew up in. That's the environment my friends grew up in. So this is a show aimed towards the black demographic. And do you really think that this is going to fly?" Howard even personally called Fox and told them, "'You need to take the kissing out, because this is going to stop, shut down the show."
In response to the controversy surrounding his casting and whether he should have been excluded from the project because of his alleged past, Howard said "I hope that nothing will take away from the truly special project we all worked so hard on. I hope people enjoy it because it has been such a wonderful experience working with this cast and Fox." Danny Strong admitted that he was not made aware of Howard's past until several months into the project. Strong said that while he did not condone Howard's alleged past behavior, "it is the polar opposite of what I've experienced with him, one-on-one and on set." Producer Brian Grazer put faith in Howard to "do right." Howard is a "guy that cares a lot... and he's been great with us on our sets, so I can only speak to that," Grazer continued. Fox executive Dana Walden described Howard as "a great partner." Walden explained that while it was the choice of the creators to hire Howard, the actor had impressed her and her co-chair Gary Newman. Walden also admitted that she and Newman were not made aware of the allegations until December 2014. By that time, Howard had been working with the network for nearly a year and showed no signs of trouble.
"I've never seen a character on prime-time television that was outright homophobic, that didn't hide it, that hated white people, that didn't hide it, that was a beast to his children and didn't hide it... I've never had the opportunity to do that."