Lee Daniels was one of the creative forces behind the hit drama series “Empire,” which aired on Fox from 2015 to 2020 and became a standout success on broadcast television throughout its six-season journey. However, the experience of working on the series was far from pleasant. Daniels recently shared with The Film Stage that his time on “Empire” was “absolutely the worst experience.”
“I don’t like staying in the same lane just as a creative. When I got into television, I really just wanted to be able to answer to suits,” Daniels said about “Empire.” “I wanted to know what that experience was like. All of my friends, they get notes and shit. And I’m like, ‘What is that like?!’ You know what I mean?” Daniels mentioned that he had only worked on independent films before moving to television with “Empire.” He was eager to see what it would be like to work with a major studio.
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“All of my sh*t is independent,” he said. “You know, my first movie was developed with drug money. ‘Monster’s Ball.’ We won the first Black woman an Oscar. Every one of my films has been independently financed where I’m able to…do my thing and nobody is in my head. There’s so many filmmakers and writers that I respect that have to answer to people. So I only did ‘Empire’ just so I could see what that experience was like.” He added, “And what was the experience like? “Horrible. Absolutely the worst experience,” Daniels said.
“Horrible! But guess what? F***ing that money, money, money! I was able to put my kids through college and sh*t. So that in itself was worth it.”
Daniels has been promoting his latest film, the Netflix horror movie “The Deliverance.” At one point, he had intentions to continue in television with a spinoff of “Empire” focusing on Cookie, the beloved character played by Henson. However, that project never materialized. Henson shared last year that she let go of her team after the spinoff didn’t happen.
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“All they wanted was another Cookie show, and I said, ‘I’ll do it, but it has to be right. The people deserve…she’s too beloved for y’all to fuck it up,’” Henson said at the time. “And so, when they didn’t get it right, I was like, ‘Well, that’s it,’ and they had nothing else. ‘You’re all fuckin’ fired.’ It took me years to get there…you are the prize. Don’t you ever forget that. You are the talent. You are there check. Don’t every forget that. They work for you. If they are not…somebody else will do it. I stayed with the same team for years.”
Henson received a Golden Globe and several Emmy nominations for her performances on “Empire.” Meanwhile, Daniels successfully produced over 100 episodes of the series, which can be streamed on platforms like Hulu and Tubi.
