By Sandra Varner   Special to LAWT  

 

Lee Daniels knows something about building an empire.   

 

Since his bold foray into storytelling some 14 years ago, steeped in rich and boundless terrain of archetypical characters—some heroic, some cautionary--this courageous and strident producer, writer and director is perched atop one of TV’s most watched primetime dramas. 

 

 

Empire, FOX TV’s Wednesday night ratings leader, refutes what heretofore had been thought unachievable—a successful network TV drama with a majority black cast, creator, producer and director in the person of Daniels. 

 

 

That scandal has been dismissed altogether. Many in the industry--particularly those who green light projects--have argued otherwise, Daniels knew it to be so; his career DNA bears record of the evidence. 

 

 

His fortune is a dynastic offspring. Daniels brought in top talent to direct additional episodes of Empire: Sanaa Hamri (“The Devil Quotes Scripture”), John Singleton (“Dangerous Bonds”), Rob Hardy (“Sins of the Father”), Mario VanPeebles (“Die But Once”), Rosemary Rodriguez, Michael Engler, Danny Strong, Debbie Allen and others. The producer in him knows the value that shared intelligence yields.  

 

 

Empire’s success follows predecessors Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal from creator Shonda Rhimes, both ABC hits and ratings toppers.  Joining them are BET hits, The Game and Being Mary Jane from Salim and Mara Brock Akil. Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots gave OWN respectable placement in the TV viewing game.  All combined these shows makeup an enviable slate of thriving primetime dramas created and shepherded by African Americans, in recent years. 

 

 

There will be more.  Success begets duplication--Rhimes’ How to Get Away with Murder, Exhibit A. 

 

 

Moreover, these dramas too, had predecessors with African Americans in visible roles spanning the past five decades:  

 

 

Any Day Now (Lifetime 1998-2002) with Lorraine Toussaint and Annie Potts

 

ER with Eriq LaSalle and Gloria Reuben (NBC 1994-2009)

 

Hill Street Blues (NBC 1981-1987) with Michael Warren and Taurean Blacque

 

I’ll Fly Away (NBC 1991-1993) with Regina Taylor and Sam Waterston

 

Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC 1993-1999) with Andre Braugher, Clark Johnson and Yaphet Kotto

 

In the Heat of the Night (NBC 1988-1992, CBS 1992-1994) with Howard Rollins and Carroll O’Connor

 

LA Law (NBC 1986-1994) with Blair Underwood

 

Law & Order (NBC, franchise began in 1990) cast has included Richard Brooks, Ice T, Jesse Martin, Tamara Tunie, Anthony Anderson and S. Epatha Merkeson

 

Mission Impossible (CBS 1966-1973) with Greg Morris

 

Soul Food (Showtime 2000-2004) with Rockmond Dunbar, Nicole Ari Parker-Kodjoe, Vanessa Williams and Darrin Henson

 

Starsky and Hutch (ABC 1975-1979) with Antonio Fargas

 

St. Elsewhere (NBC 1982-1988) with Denzel Washington

 

The Wire (HBO 2002-2008) with Idris Elba, Sonja Sohn and Andre Rojo

 

Touched by an Angel (CBS 1994-2003) with Della Reese and Roma Downey

 

Treme (HBO 2010-2013) with Khandi Alexander, Wendell Pierce and Oscar winner Melissa Leo) 

 

 

The abovementioned list and other shows were hot topics around water coolers in their epic heyday; as was Diahann Carroll who upped the ante for TV’s Dallas (CBS) in the mid 1980s.  In the 1960s, Carroll broke ground with TV’s Julia (20th Century FOX) about a widowed nurse and her young son. Carroll won a Golden Globe for Best Female TV Star in 1969.

 

 

Over the years, there have been African American centered dramas that were beloved by segments of the population but didn’t survive a lengthy first run. City of Angels directed by Paris Barclay with Hill Harper, Paula Newsome and Octavia Spencer; Under One Roof with James Earl Jones, Malinda Williams, Joe Morton, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Obba Babatundé; The Chicago Code with Jennifer Beals and Delroy Lindo; Thomas Carter’s Equal Justice with Joe Morton and Vanessa Bell Calloway and; Frank’s Place with Tim and Daphne Reid all come to mind.  

 

 

There’s also the 50-50 scenario when a primetime drama has a good run for three to five seasons such as TNT’s Hawthorne with Jada Pinkett Smith and Marc Anthony.  Another, Lincoln Heights with Russell Hornsby and Nicki Micheaux on the ABC Family network went off the air despite a ground swell of rallying supporters. 

 

 

Presently, the coin has flipped for many; Pinkett Smith has a principal role on FOX TV’s popular vampire esque drama, Gotham.  Joe Morton won a Primetime Emmy and an Image award for his role on Scandal; Hornsby costars on NBC’s sci-fi detective drama, Grimm. Sleepy Hollow with Nicole Beharie and Resurrection--based on the Jason Mott novel starring Omar Epps are FOX-TV hits. 

 

 

Notable by all accounts, the full list of African American centered or themed TV dramas is by no means exhaustive nor can it be completely documented in this article. 

 

 

Historically, African Americans cast in leading or significant roles, positioned in front of and behind the camera are proven entities--their embrace has not always been consistent or triumphant. Today, it appears the up and down trend has ebbed, spiraling toward a constant ascendance. 

 

 

Of course, one must not get carried away.  Even with the success of Empire and others, the entertainment industry is driven by one color—green.  When ratings equal profit, it’s golden; if either changes so goes the fame and the fanfare. 

 

 

Affirmatively, there is no indication we’ll wave goodbye to any of the current hits anytime soon; they are all too hot and fan-obsessed.  Social media plays a role in keeping the momentum elevated. Therewith, a number of storylines are deemed relatable. Friends and followers can interact in real time. 

 

 

Increasingly, Lee Daniels and peers are planting stakes into fertile ground, hopefully for consecutive years to come.  They are creating a lineage in the entertainment sphere that will sustain a legacy of perennial hits—likened to film franchises and syndicated TV shows.  

 

 

In the case of Daniels, his legacy is intrinsically linked to scaffolding a critically acclaimed pallet of successive films, one even with his name preceding the title, i.e. Lee Daniels’ THE BUTLER.   

 

 

Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (“Last King of Scotland”) took home Image and AAFCA awards for his leading role in THE BUTLER (2014). Oprah Winfrey gave an Oscar-worthy performance in the same film. Halle Berry’s Best Actress Oscar was bestowed for MONSTER’S BALL in 2001, produced by Daniels; Mo’Nique Imes’ Best Supporting Actress Oscar was bestowed for PRECIOUS (2009), directed by Daniels, based on the Sapphire novel “Push.”  

 

 

Decided career bumps have resulted from pivotal character arcs via standout performances by many who were cast in a Lee Daniels’ film, namely Paula Patton, Xosha Roquemore, Yaya DaCosta, David Oyelowo, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and Colman Domingo. 

 

 

Inclusively, Kevin Bacon, Oscar winners Billy Bob Thornton and Dame Helen Mirren were cast in a Daniels’ film: “The Woodsman,” “Monster’s Ball” and “Shadowboxer,” respectively. 

 

 

Outspoken views spew liberally from Daniels’ whose bawdy, unapologetic prowess has been sanctioned. 

 

 

Oscar nominees Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard--paired with a killer music bed, intoxicating vocals from sexy newcomers and seasoned gamers--give Empire the likely edge to carry over into TV syndication. Daniels’ skills in writing, directing, producing and yes, humility paved the way. 

 

 

At the onset of Empire’s preeminence, LAWT spoke with the 55-year-old guardian of his sister’s children, about the enormous influence he possesses-- 

 

 

LAWT:  What a way to start the New Year.

 

Lee Daniels: Thank you so much, that’s very nice of you.  I was so thankful for this new project.  Every time I do something, I go, ‘oh well, I guess that’s a wrap for a while. Then, just when you think it may not happen, something opens up.’

 

 

 

LAWT: Well, let’s start with the cast, truly a gift. You’ve got two Oscar nominees in the starring roles. Terrence Howard (2005’s “Hustle & Flow”) and Taraji P. Henson (2008’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) cast as the embattled, indomitable, and in love still, Lucious and Cookie Lyon. 

 

 

Daniels: I really had somebody else in mind for Lucious but when I spoke to Taraji about it she said, ‘well, I don’t like that choice. I think you should go with Terrence Howard.’ 

 

 

In that moment I thought, gosh, this really is Cookie.  She’s telling me who I should cast. This is the reason I wanted her; that she chose a friend who incidentally is Terrence Howard [also cast in Daniels’ THE BUTLER] was good. We were trying to figure out what we could do together after The Butler. I had him come in and test; he came in crazy bombastic but I felt his character needed to have a darker complexion.  I just told him, ‘I can’t cast you because you’re both yellow; I don’t want two yellow kids in my show.’ (laughter) 

 

 

LAWT: I love you Lee Daniels! (laughter) 

 

 

Daniels: They said to me, ‘shut up Lee and go figure it out.  When have you ever worried about what anyone said about you?’ Then we went off and cast the (Lyon) sons, hard to do because I had to figure out whether or not I could cast singers that could act or cast actors that I would have to teach to sing. I couldn’t teach an actor to sing; it had to be God’s gift.  I was very blessed to come across both Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon) and Bryshere Gray (Hakeem Lyon), the two younger brothers.  They came in for the audition and nailed it. Then I got the older brother, Trai Byers (Andre Lyon), who is also cast in “Selma.”  He went to Yale and is really good…that became the Lyon family. Lastly, I got on the phone with my number one girl (PRECIOUS’ star, Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe) and said, ‘Gabby put on a blond wig, let’s go.’ 

 

 

LAWT: You chose Malik Yoba as Lucious’ best friend and business partner, Vernon Turner.  The intensity in this character’s eyes is beguiling.  What back story and chemistry did you need to establish between them?  

 

 

Daniels: It’s collaboration but here’s the great part of working with these incredible actors, they do what you say like the old school kids who say, ‘yes sir.’ When I did “The Butler” with Jane Fonda, Robin Williams…all of the greats, the incredible actors in that cast, all of them would say, ‘yes sir’ because they know that you’re the captain of the ship.  

 

 

You’re the visionary and they submit to your vision.  When you submit, you don’t hold back as an actor. On the other hand, it’s hard to submit because you have your own idea of who a character is.  I wrote it so I know, in my head, what I want. They’ll nuance it and bring their own stuff to what I’ve created and its collaboration. 

 

 

LAWT: You’ve also chosen to have several generations interrelated, giving a broader appeal to diverse audiences.  Was that a conscious intention during the creation process?  

 

 

Daniels: I wanted “Empire” to take off where “The Butler” left off; we had done the Civil Rights era straight up to the beginning of electing America’s first black president.  I said to my writing partner (Danny Strong), ‘let’s just pick up where we left off.’ Empire is really about the African American experience post Civil Rights, from the beginning of rap music to today. 

 

 

LAWT: Then your second gift is the Civil Rights Movement and how it gave way to “The Butler” that paved the way to Empire.  There are shadings of Berry Gordy’s Motown; Debbie Allen’s Fame, a Jackson Five patina and reference to the first African American US President, available to your creative inclinations.   

 

 

Daniels: You’re going to make me cry; I am going to hang up the phone right now. Stop talking to me like that; I’ll hang up on you. I don’t do well with praise, thank you so much. I swear the hairs on my arms just raised, that was beautiful. 

 

 

LAWT: You also highlight several coexisting memes--single parenting, female incarceration, racial tension, same sex love—that are contextualized without being preachy or obvious, that is your gift. What do you want to develop from this broad swath of subject matter surrounding the Lyon family, essential to the issues that you draw from? 

 

 

Daniels: If you really study my work at its core is family. I exorcize all of my demons…I don’t go to therapy, my films are my therapy.  I get rid of all of the stuff that has been festering in me and my family through my work.  This is really me figuring out who I am because I’m in all of those characters that are on the screen.   My family is in all of them.  I think the reason my work strikes home and feels real is because it is real.  It’s real life, it’s my life.   I’m a little bit of Lucious--my dad was a lot of Lucious. I am Jamal, my brother is Hakeem, my sister is Cookie; these people live in me. 

 

 

I think what’s great about the show is we see all sides; I’m very comfortable in the projects, I’m very comfortable in North Philly and West Philly.  I’m also comfortable in Oprah’s home for a dinner party. I think there are a lot of African Americans who are millionaires and we just don’t know how they function.  We don’t see them in their world; at the end of the day we’re still African Americans.  We still come from an ancestry that ate chitlins--that’s in our DNA, that’s who we are.  We have morphed through the years and have become more sophisticated. I think our DNA hasn’t changed and I’m just here to expose it. Does that make any sense? 

 

 

LAWT: Yes, it does. Making the choice of FOX-TV for Empire’s home, how so? 

 

 

Daniels: It was a bidding war and every network wanted it. We have Brian Grazer as Executive Producer who really knows the business.  That white cat knows the pulse of the African American experience; just look at some of the films he’s done: 8 Mile, Boomerang, Life, Undercover Brother, Inside Man, Get On Up, American Gangster… 

 

 

He knows that world and is able to communicate to the studio for me because I go in there ballistic, you know.  He’s a great buffer to explain me, both worlds. I chose FOX because Dana Walden and Gary Newman (Executives at FOX Broadcasting) are over there and they really responded.  Of all the networks, they seemed to want Empire most. 

 

I felt that going to HBO, which I will be doing something there very soon, or to another cable network would have been safe for me because I can do my old bag of tricks (with a harder edge), but I’ve got a PG13 rating with this one.  That classification really pushes me, creatively, to come up with ways to do a hip hop story without curse words in it.  

 

Another reason to go with FOX was because they were so provocative.  But the third reason was that most of my family, like a lot of families can’t afford cable;  I know they’ve got FOX so those were the three determining factors that pushed me to them [FOX]. 

 

 

LAWT:  Imitation is said to be the highest form of compliment in this business; I expect there will be others that try and mount an Empire, elsewhere. 

 

 

Daniels: I’m sure and that’s OK; we’ll just go and do something else. It’s all good. I think with duplication comes more opportunities for African Americans. What has been the most exciting part of this journey, for me is, normally I employ African American actors and that’s been a real high but now it’s on another level.   We have an incredible team of writers, African American writers, and it’s staggering to know the jewels out there that are our writers, it’s beautiful.  

 

 

We have a plethora of African American directors for several episodes and I’m telling you I don’t know what I’m more excited about—that I am able to tell my story or that I am able to get this group of people together.  It’s truly a party when we get together.  The great part of it all is that I didn’t even know the ripple effect that it [Empire] was going to have. So when you say “imitation” I hope that means my people are working. 

 

 

LAWT: I describe you as “The Maestro” particularly in reference to THE BUTLER; it’s as if a symphony was assembled to make that film. Everybody knew their parts in history as it were.  Everybody knew their instrument, their facility and capacity to shoulder those heroic characters.  Similarly with Empire, you are “The Conductor” of this symphony.  How does that feel Lee Daniels? 

 

 

Daniels: You’re funny because once again you’ve touched me.  I told you I don’t know how to take compliments--I’m blushing, if you could see a black man blush. Here’s the thing, you tap into my spirit.  I am operatic in all of my stuff; all of my films are operatic in their own way.  Empire is a dramatic musical, an opera.  To actually do a TV show that feels sort of operatic in its own way, I’m very pleased you caught on to that.  God bless you and thank you so much from the bottom of my heart, your kind words really made my afternoon.

Category: Cover Stories