Empire Entertainment CEO Lucious Lyon (played by Terrence Howard) hosts a showcase for Fox’s “Empire.” (Photographer: Chuck Hodes)
The love triangle on Fox’s hit series “Empire” was ignited when Empire Entertainment head of A&R Anika Calhoun said she was flying to Chicago to work on a contract with singer Lana Del Rey, except she came back earlier than expected and caught her fiance and Empire CEO, Lucious Lyon, who is dying of ALS, in bed with his ex-wife, Cookie Lyon, who was recently released from prison. You get all that? This was notable because it not only set up the personal and professional breakup between Anika and Lucious Lyon and opened the possibilities for him and Cookie Lyon, but it was also a rare nod to the city where the soap opera-like drama is filmed.
“Empire” shoots in Chicago at Cinesace Chicago Film Studios on the West Side. New York, however, is where the show is set and where Lucious Lyon (played by the Chicago born and Cleveland raised Terrence Howard) grew up and launched the record label from nothing with Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson). Makes sense. There aren’t any major record labels in Chicago in real life, but there are in New York.
In order to convince the viewer “Empire” takes place in New York, the show stays away from filming Chicago landmarks and instead includes the occasional shot of New York’s skyline. Still, the drama created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong — which has been dominating the ratings like few other shows have in recent years since its debut Jan. 7 — feels like a Chicago show. How could it not? We see the actors filming around town and sit up and rewind our DVRs when we recognize one of the locations or Chicagoans on the show (Grace Gealey had been living in Chicago for three months when she booked the role of Anika). With the two-hour season finale taking place Wednesday, here is a closer look at the Chicago connection on “Empire.”
Chicago vs. New York: Malik Yoba signed on to “Empire” to play Empire chairman Vernon Turner under the impression the show would shoot in New York, seeing how that’s where the story takes place. “I live in Brooklyn, so I was excited to shoot at home,” said Yoba, “but that was short-lived.” The show kept the story in New York but opted to film in Chicago. Why? “20th Century Fox Television has consistently steered television series and pilots to Chicago in recent years due to the tax incentive, (and) overall affordability,” said Chicago Film Office director Rich Moskal. “The (tax) incentive makes the cost of doing business here very competitive, particularly as compared to NYC.”
Moskal said Chicago has a diverse enough look to host projects that aren’t set here, which is especially important for shows that film nine months out of the year. “Having shows like ‘Empire’ says that for us better than we can,” said Moskal. As for Yoba, he got over the location change. “That’s the way Hollywood works,” Yoba said. “But Chicago is one of my favorite cities. The architecture is beautiful, I like that it’s situated by the lake, and I like the food, but I’d like to see it more integrated.”
Chicago locations: If you’ve been wracking your brain trying to figure out where in Chicago “Empire” films its Leviticus nightclub and Empire headquarters scenes, wrack no more. Those scenes are just sets at Cinespace. “The sets are unbelievable,” said Antoine McKay, whose Bunkie Campbell character was murdered by Lucious Lyon in the first episode. “The club — that’s a set. I walked on that set and was like ‘Oh my gosh.’ The club has a ramp, a performance area and a bar. It’s ghetto posh.” Not every backdrop is a set. The show has filmed at Cook County Jail and restaurants and bars such as Sunda, RPM Steak, Tortoise Club, Blue Line Lounge and Grill and Empty Bottle.
Porsha: Ta’Rhonda Jones said she has yet to really celebrate. The Simeon Career Academy alum and aspiring rapper went from working at Renaissance Park South nursing home in the Roseland neighborhood in 2014 to playing Cookie Lyon’s assistant, Porsha Taylor, on one of the hottest shows on TV. “It’s so surreal,” Jones said. “I don’t know how to react. I haven’t gotten the chance to kick things over. When I got the role, I wanted to knock things over and scream, but I didn’t. Something is wrong with me.”
Jones had no prior professional acting experience and only auditioned because the casting notice called for female rappers. Jones didn’t get the role of Tiana Brown that she originally auditioned for (Serayah McNeill did) but was given the role of Porsha instead. “I don’t want to sound (arrogant), but I feel like the (Porsha) role was meant for me,” Jones said. “The fact that the show films (in Chicago) and happened when it happened, it wasn’t meant for anybody else but me.”
Bunkie: McKay isn’t one of those people who is completely surprised by the massive success of “Empire.” The Detroit native who moved to Chicago to perform on Second City’s Mainstage said he saw it coming. “When I walked onto the set at one point, I was the only person in the room who didn’t have an Oscar nomination,” said McKay, who lives with his wife and six children in Evanston. “I’m standing there with Gabby (Sidibe), Taraji, Terrence and Lee thinking ‘Am I hallucinating right now?’ When you see that talent, you get a feeling that it’s going to be special.”
McKay wishes his character could have lasted longer on the show but said he is too grateful for the opportunity to be disappointed. “I was hoping they’d change that,” McKay said of his death. “But it needed to happen because it’s a strong part of the story.” Don’t feel too bad for McKay, who filmed an episode of Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi drama “Sense8.” He said “Empire” has given his career a boost. And besides, he still appears on the show via flashbacks. “I was in the episode last week and stuff might be happening again this week,” McKay hinted. “(Bunkie is) still a part of that world. There is still atonement that needs to be made.”
Local celebrities: Chicago celebs known mostly on a local level have been getting national exposure thanks to “Empire.” Former Fox Chicago news anchor Robin Robinson and Tribune reporter Jenniffer Weigel played media personalities that reported on Empire going public on the New York Stock Exchange. B96’s morning radio host J Niice? He played the NFL player that Cookie Lyon had tweet about her son Jamal’s song.
“The night my episode aired, my phone was ringing and receiving so many texts, I had to turn it off,” said J Niice (real name: Jamar McNeil), who added that he only auditioned because the casting director asked for him by name. “Two days after the episode aired I flew out of O’Hare and I was recognized in the airport in Chicago as well as my arriving airport in Washington, D.C. Every day since the episode, I’ve had a conversation with someone about my appearance.”
Night life entrepreneur Billy Dec played the agent and manager of singer Delphine (Estelle), who Lucious Lyon wants to sign to his label. Dec said over 300 more people started following him on Twitter the night his episode aired. “Terrence Howard comes to Sunda a bunch and has been a friend for years,” said Dec of the trendy sushi restaurant he co-owns, “but acting eye to eye with him was like nothing I have ever experienced. He’s incredible, intense, deep, radiating — kind of intimidating actually. But I’ve been working with (an acting) coach to get more roles, so it felt like the best challenge ever.”
Star power: We might never see another show draw celebs to Chicago the way “The Oprah Winfrey Show” did, but the list of stars coming to town to film “Empire” is nothing to sneeze at. In addition to Howard, Henson and Gabourey Sidibe, the first season of “Empire” features appearances by Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Patti LaBelle, Courtney Love, Gladys Knight, Naomi Campbell, Cuba Gooding Jr ., Raven-Symone, Rita Ora and Estelle. Which bold names can we expect to see make a cameo in season two? Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter he’s working on getting his pal Winfrey on the show.
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