On Monday morning, Grazia’s Wilmarie van der Merwe attended the press conference for the SA leg of the Empire season 3 tour with Taraji P Henson and Terrence Howard hosted by Fox and DStv.
Both were incredibly friendly, humble and open about their lives, their characters and the show. Taraji commented on how much she’s saddened by the hate the show receives from it portraying street drug dealing because she feels that it’s not far from reality for many people. She went onto explain that although she doesn’t agree with Lucious and Cookie’s decision to get into dealing drugs, it was a means to an end so they could provide for their kids and not follow in their parents’ footsteps.
Terrence, who is not like his ruthless and heartless character Lucious, explained his reasoning behind his character’s behaviour: Lucious is a result of his father’s treatment of him, and that’s why he’s so tough and ruthless with his sons, especially Jamal, who is gay, and Andre, who suffers from bipolar depression. Terrence added that his own father was nothing like Lucious’ and that’s not how he is with his children, so he has to work really hard to get into relaying no emotional attachment.
Despite their tumultuous relationship in the show, Terrence explained that Cookie is the one person that Lucious bends to because of what they’d been through together, including her going to jail for him. When asked why Cookie didn’t let Luscious take the fall, Taraji explained that their kids would have been alone with no one to raise them and would’ve become the statistic, which she would not let happen.
Since the press conference, Taraji and Terrence have been in the media everyday taking pics with fans and celebs alike.
AKA even got to chat to Cookie and hinted that he would love to feature on the show, to which Cookie said, “You never know what could happen,” after commenting on how cute he is and how much she likes African music. She then also reposted AKA’s video on her IG and tagged Empire writer Lee Daniels. So you better watch this space!
Last night at an exclusive VIP event, Somizi got up close and personal with Cookie to teach her how to say his popular phrase: “Whoo shem!” Seriously, it is so cute! Watch the vid here:
God’s timing is never late. @tarajiphenson bless yo spirit
A video posted by Somizi (@somizi) on
Naturally, Taraji and Terrence threw out some fun facts about themselves and the show:
1. Terrence Howard taught himself how to play instruments and write music.
2. He wrote You Broke Love for the show, but it got cut during the editing process.
3. Cookie’s popular moniker for Anika, “Boo Boo Kitty”, was not scripted, she ad-libbed it.
4. “Boo Boo Kitty” is Taraji’s favourite Cookie line.
5. Taraji was the one who got Terrence Howard the part of Lucious – she told producers there’s no one better for the role.
6. Taraji’s fave song from the show is ‘You’re so Beautiful’ (which is our fave as well!)
7. Terrence’s fave song is ‘You Broke Love’