‘EMPIRE’S’ TIANA: ‘ROLE OF A LIFETIME’
Fox-TV’s “Empire,” filmed in Chicago, is one of TV’s hottest shows. The hip-hop drama, created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, centers on stars Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and their familymembers’ fight over control of an entertainment company. Ser
I grewup in a lot of different places, primarily in L.A. After high school, I planned to major in theater in college. I was attending community college and working at H&M when a friend from high school called me about the part. His stepmom is Lee Daniels’ sister— casting director Leah Daniels. I auditioned and got the role of a lifetime.
I don’t think you can ever be prepared for something blowing up as quickly as “Empire” did. It’s definitely helped me in a lot of different areas of life. My favorite part is just the dynamics of cast member relationships and how everything’s really cool on and off the camera.
Taraji’s amazing. She’s experienced, well-spoken and knows what she wants. She really knows how to approach her character, which I admire so much. And Terrence is great. He’s funny, and he’s very intel- lectual. He tells me a lot of books to read.
Music is my first love, so being able to do both on “Empire” makes me pretty happy.
I enjoy mentoring. I recently went to the Caribbean and spoke at a gathering of performing arts students from around the world. It was really interesting because these kids grew up in different rural areas of the Caribbean and dreamed of being on the big screen but believe it’s, like, so far away.
I remember that feeling. I’ve wanted to do this my whole life, and, like them, I felt it was so far away— for a different life, different human beings. But it’s really not. I told them it’s so close you don’t even realize it.
The violence in Chicago
is sad. Growing up, I had friends in L.A. that had that type of violence in their upbringing. Some of their family members were into gang banging, so it was kind of like a life they couldn’t get away from. It was their home. It was their mom. It was their dad. That’s a tough situation.
But I have plenty of other
friends whose upbringing included detention, and they got out and changed the way they do life, with outlets like football or basketball or acting.
Whatever your outlet is, you really just have to pursue it and say, “OK, I know where I’m from. I know the violence that occurs. But it doesn’t have to define me. I know where I’m gonna be.”
I’m not just talking about kids in the ’hood. It’s anywhere because there’s people that aren’t in the ’hood that struggle. And that was me. Just because I didn’t grow up in the ’hood doesn’t mean I had money. I definitely grew up low-income.
We moved to Decatur, in Atlanta, where I lived through middle school. It’s actually one of the worst areas to live in in Atlanta. I’ve seen everything. I know what my peers are like in and around areas like Decatur and what my peers are like in the valley. People are different because of their upbringing or because they have money. I’ve seen both. You kind of have to alter yourself between any situation, and that’s what I’ve learned to do.
Weall don’t knowwhat each other goes through — the extremes of where someone’s been or what they’re dealing with. I tell students to, like, stay focused on what you want out of life and know what’s going to get you there, what decisions, down to the detail. That way, you put that energy out there, and you’re always preparing yourself.