The “Empire” Interview with Lee Daniels
After directing and/or producing such successful feature films as The Butler and Monster’s Ball, for which Halle Berry won an Academy Award, and Precious, which earned an Academy Award for Mo’Nique, two-time Oscar-nominee, Lee Daniels [for Precious] has set his sights on TV for the first time. Here, he talks about directing the new nighttime soap opera Empire, co-starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.
Kam Williams: Hi Lee, thanks for another opportunity to speak with you.
Lee Daniels: Great, Kam. How are
you?
KW: All is well, thanks. What was the source of
inspiration for Empire?
LD: My partner,
Danny Strong, came to me with this idea of telling a story about my life,
and merging that with music and the Hip-Hop world. He wrote
The Butler and originally
wanted to do Empire also as a movie.
KW: I had no idea it
was semi-autobiographical. Why TV, as opposed to the big screen?
LD: What happened was we decided that’s enough with
movies, let’s do it for television so that we could bring this to life for
America on a weekly basis. It picks up, historically, where The Butler
left off, and deals with race relations. It’s a little bit like my family, a
little like some friends of mine with money, their world, and a little like
some of my friends without money, their world. I think it’s the
African-American experience.
KW: Which character are you?
Lucious Lyon [played by Terrence Howard]?
LD:
I’m Lucious… I’m Jamal… I’m all of the characters. My sister and my cousins
are Cookie [played by Taraji P. Henson]. Cookie’s little bit of all of them.
KW: How do film actors like Terrence and Taraji make the
transition from the big screen to the small screen?
LD: That’s a very good question and a very complicated one, because with film we get the luxury of time. It works at a different pace. It’s nice and slow. As a film director and as film actors, you get used to a certain rhythm that’s slow. But with TV, it’s hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. It’s a different pace. So, it’s about adjusting to the pace. It’s not meant for everybody.
KW: Has the frenetic pace frustrated you?
LD: No, I think it’s made me a better director, because I
have to think fast. I no longer have the luxury of taking my time. Does that
make any sense?
KW: Absolutely! Did you consider other actors
or did you always envision Taraji and Terrence for the lead roles?
LD: I always considered Taraji, but even though
Terrence and I are very good friends and had worked together on The
Butler and were thinking about doing The Marvin Gaye Story.
But I didn’t know if he’d do TV. I was thinking of Wesley Snipes for the
role, but word on the street was that Taraji wasn’t feeling it anymore. Then
she told me, “I’ll do it, but only if Terrence does it.” I went, “girl, you
ain’t even got the job yet.” And I was like, “Terrence ain’t going to do
TV.” But then he said he would, and there you go.
KW: Most
writers avoid dealing with homosexuality within the black community. What
made you choose that path? Unlike your counterpart, Shonda Rhimes, who has
depicted white males in a passionate relationship, perhaps to target a
whiter audience, you’ve put two males of color in a gay relationship. Why
did you choose to do so?
LD: I did it
because I think it’s time to destroy a myth in the black community about gay
men. When I was doing research for Precious, I went to the Gay
Men’s Health Crisis here in New York City, because the movie dealt with
AIDS. What I expected to see was gay men, but what I found were
African-American women and children who’d been infected with HIV by black
men on the down-low. They were on the “DL” [down low, hiding
their sexuality] because their pastor says, because their minister says,
because their neighbor says, and their homeboy says, “You can’t be gay.”
Black men on the DL are killing our women. I can’t hate the men on the DL, I
only hate that they’re on the DL, because our people forced them to be. So,
this is really dedicated to educating. This is the civil rights movement of
our generation.
So, this is really dedicated to educating
KW: You are working on a Richard Pryor biopic. What does he mean to
you?
LD: The more research I do, the more I
uncover not only his brilliance, but how much of a pioneer he was at a time
that was harder on African-Americans than it is right now, if that’s
imaginable. His experience as a black American was very similar to mine. We
both come from troubled backgrounds. He was very open about his sexuality,
and what he did, and he spoke the truth. And he fought for the truth for
everybody. And because he was so tormented, he was a drug addict, and so was
I. Our similarities are strangely connected. So, he speaks to me. He was
ahead of his time, and he didn’t even know that he was changing the world
through humor. He was uniting African-American and white Americans through
his humor. He didn’t know, and I hope to do him justice.
KW:
Marcia Evans says: Lee, I'm major proud of all your work, and I'm digging
Empire. Congratulations on your weight loss. You’re looking good. Vegan is
working for you.
LD: [Belly laugh] I’m not
really vegan. I’m vegan-ish. I have a piece of lamb every now and then.
KW: Thanks again for the time, Lee, and best of luck with
Empire.
LD: Thank
you, Kam. Talk to you soon.
The “Lee Daniels' The Butler” Interview (2013)
A 2009 Interview with Lee Daniels about his film Precious
