Fox TV: "Empire"

[Sawyer]

Marisa Tomei Joins in Recurring Role

 

[Specter313]

We’re not sure if Empire‘s Lucious Lyon is a child of destiny — but his mother most certainly is.

TVLine has confirmed that sometimes Destiny’s Child diva and erstwhile X Factor judge Kelly Rowland will guest-star as the mother of Terrence Howard’s hard-charging label exec — in flashback, of course. E! Online first reported the news.

Rowland is the latest in a string of bold-faced names joining the ratings phenomenon’s second season. Last week, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei signed on for a recurring role as Mimi Whiteman, a lesbian venture capitalist who becomes embroiled in Lyon family drama.

Among the show’s additional sophomore-season guest stars are CSI: Miami‘s Adam Rodriguez, comedian Chris Rock, R&B superstar Alicia Keys and rock god Lenny Kravitz. Additionally, Gabourey Sidibe and Ta’Rhonda Jones, who play Lucious’ and Cookie’s respective lackeys Becky and Porsha, have been elevated to full-fledged series regulars, TVLine reported exclusively in April.

Rowland’s previous acting credits include guest stints on American Dreams, The Hughleys, Single Ladies, Girlfriends and Real Husbands of Hollywood.

http://tvline.com/2015/07/06/kelly-rowland-empire-season-2-cast/#more-624224

 

[Primal Slayer]

This is certainly the new Glee. Bring in big name after big name.

 

[Prison Mike]

By any chance, is Ta'Rhonda Jones related to Leslie Jones?

 

[Primal Slayer]

 

[Sithborg]

That image is perfect for the series.

 

[Sawyer]

Adam Busch Joins as Obsessive Gay Photog

1. One member of Buffy's Trio is going to work for another, and that's awesome.
2. The character names on this show are so terrible they border on hilarious.

 

[Sawyer]

[YT]h9bSk7ZedEU[/YT]

 

[Golgo-13]

I find this show very entertaining.

Promo for next week.

[YT]LQmW3aSm4Hk[/YT]

God this woman is stunning

Yeah, Grace Gealey is absolutely gorgeous and engaged to her co-star Trai Byers.

 

[rashad]

I don't blame him for locking that down.

 

[Sawyer]

Terrence Howard: "My Dad Stabbed a Guy When We Were in Line To See Santa-- And It Was Awesome!"

Okay, not an exact quote, but.

 

[Slick]

Anybody watching this right now?

 

[Sithborg]

Gotta love the absurdity of the #FreeLuciusLyon concert and Hakeem's segway sneakers (I realize they weren't actually part of the sneakers, but they looked like it when I first saw them). The cameos are getting a little insane though.

Good fun as always. Too bad Chris Rock doesn't appear to be returning. I kind of liked him.

Also, Aneeka's dance. Good lord...

 

[Slick]

I'm giving it one more chance too win me over. My family is crazy over this show.

 

[Jesse]

Pretty good start to the season. Nice Swizz Beatz cameo at the beginning. I was hoping Chris Rock would be around all season but that ending.

 

[Primal Slayer]

It was ok but wow what a waste of Chris Rocks character. Create an entire plot of Cookie being afraid of him and how bad he is only for him to be offed with a write of their checkbook. It was so useless and made it just laughable.

The cameos could've been toned down but we know that wont happen yet.

 

[Sithborg]

Yeah, I was disapointed in that. I was liking the character.

 

[MadVillainy]

Love this trashy genius is back
I thought it was supposed to be a 2 hour premiere

Anyway, Chris Rock was supposed to be a cannibal

 

[mjdiddy1]

It was evident he was a cannibal. I think Cookie or her sister or someone said that to a point by calling him Hannibal Lecter plus the scene with him eating kind of made you think he was eating a human steak.

 

[MadVillainy]

I guess I dont really pay attention.

I mean it did look like a weird piece of meat, but if I hadn't read that he was supposed to be a cannibal I wouldnt have picked up on it.

I heard the Hannibal/Idi amin line though. I didnt know Amin was rumored to be a cannibal.

I think, if they wanted to do it, they soulve gone all the way. I know FOX shut it down, but they shouldve gone for it

 

[Hypestyle]

Grace Geely is still gorgeous, as is Taraji.
Chris Rock I didn’t quite buy as a hardcore longtime drug boss. Casting against type, I suppose. I guess we’ll see if drama is in his future.
I like Marisa Tomei, but this seemed like such a campy stunt for her to be a (wait for it) gorgeous middle-aged lesbian billionaire with a surname of Whiteman who wants to invest $250,000,000 in the company.
[And for a record label, that’s a hell of a lot of money- what else is Empire Entertainment involved in? Movies? Technology/Software?]
Jamal seems to have become awfully petty awfully fast. He’s still uncomfortable with the more blatantly flamboyant aspects of queer culture, it seems (whoever the Sylvester stand-in was).
Wow, so Andre and his wife just buried Vernon? Good lord. I take it that Rhonda doesn’t go to church with Vernon, either. LOL, curious. Too much.
At this point, is Annika just totally cool with sleeping with folks to get some career advancement? Early on in season one, it didn’t seem that way.
Future guest wish list: Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Bernie Casey, Richard Roundtree, Vonetta McGee, Wesley Snipes, Regina King, Nia Long, Omar Epps, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Murphy, Mo’Nique and more.

 

[MadVillainy]

At this point, is Annika just totally cool with sleeping with folks to get some career advancement? Early on in season one, it didn’t seem that way.
.

It made for a funny scene ("you can't even d*** right). But yeah early in Season 1 I wouldnt think should we. But that's the thing about character development. Although even at the end of season 1 I wouldnt see her sleeping with a woman for career advancement.

 

[Lencho01]

It was ok but wow what a waste of Chris Rocks character. Create an entire plot of Cookie being afraid of him and how bad he is only for him to be offed with a write of their checkbook. It was so useless and made it just laughable.

The cameos could've been toned down but we know that wont happen yet.

[YT]xTXrSH64IVc[/YT]

 

[Hypestyle]

So who is the Selena Gomez stand-in? She’s pretty. Is she a real-life performer?
I suspect she will be a recurring character. On a side note- I can’t believe that she’s operating in a courtroom with heaving cleavage, without being verbally critiqued by the Judge. I wonder just what is her situation? Are they setting her up to sleep with Lucious at some point? That’s my guess.

It may also be loosely based on this situation with Detroit’s former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/09/ex-detroit_police_monitor_on_f.html

also, regarding the flashback, apparently featuring Kelly Rowland as Lucious' mother:
Kelly Rowland is a beautiful chocolate skinned woman. I would marry her without hesitation.

So this has me wondering. was Lucious's father white or biracial himself? Just saying... Grown up Lucious is all light yellow with green eyes.

Or is this a dramatic conceit that you are expected to just accept, like the light-skinned Huxtable kids from the Cosby Show?

Not a dealbreaking issue, but, I couldn't help but notice--

 

[Urich Leeds]

Becky G. She's pretty popular singer. Not a huge name though, obviously. If I'm not mistaken, she got her start with Disney like Gomez, so there you go.

I knew who she was before the show, and was surprised to see her. I hadn't heard anything about it before hand.