‘Empire’ was Lee Daniels’ “worst experience” on-set: “Horrible!”

Lee Daniels has opened up about his “horrible” experience working on the Fox drama Empire, describing it as his “worst experience”.

Daniels, who is known for directing films such as Precious and The Butler, created the Fox series that ran for six seasons from 2015 to 2020.

The show revolved around the fictional hip-hop label Empire Entertainment and the drama of the family of the company’s founder as they fight for control of the empire. It starred Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Jussie Smollett and was one of the most-watched shows on network television at the time.

But Daniels has shared the difficulties of his time helming the show, telling The Film Stage, “I only did Empire just so I could see what that experience was like.”

“Horrible,” he described the overall experience. “Absolutely the worst experience. Horrible! But guess what? Fucking that money, money, money! I was able to put my kids through college and shit.”

Daniels was one of the first high-level Hollywood directors to commit to a network television series when Empire began, and he has since co-created the show Star, before returning to cinema with The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

The director has also had some choice words for one of his contemporaries, Quentin Tarantino, in the past, criticising the Pulp Fiction director’s defence of his use of the N-word in his films.

“Quentin, that’s not the right answer,” Daniels said. “10 years ago, or 15 years ago, I would have checked it off as artistic, but n***a is our word. That’s my word. You have no right to say that and you have no right to feel that way. Sorry bro.”

Daniels is currently promoting his new film, the supernatural horror The Deliverance.  The film follows a struggling mother (Andra Day), who, after moving her family into a new home, starts to witness strange demonic occurrences.

The movie is inspired by the life of Latoya Ammons, whose family was allegedly subject to demonic possession in Gary, Indiana in 2011, and is streaming on Netflix now.

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