During a Dec. 6 appearance on “The Real” talk show, director Lee Daniels of FOX’s “Empire” talked about his latest TV project, “Star,” featuring a white lead.
On the heels of the third season of “Empire,” the director told co-hosts that he wanted to take a new direction and heal the nation with a likable white lead that can captivate both whites and Blacks.
He added that he wanted this prior to Donald Trump’s Nov. 8 election-night victory.
“I thought that it was important to address race relations in America,” Daniels says. “We are, truly I believe, in a civil war. And I think that when we understand that we’re all one, that [we will] then understand America. And America is still to be understood by us.”
Furthermore, Daniels said that the show “Star” will differ greatly from “Empire.”
While the breakout hit is similar to the 1980s melodrama “Dynasty,” “Star” will be closer to “Good Times” with a splash of music. By the midpoint of the clip, Daniels reminded the hosts that the lead is white.
“In the beginning, it is told through a white girl’s perspective because I felt that the country instinctively needed to heal. I think that this white girl is so fabulous that Black people will embrace her and white people will embrace her,” Daniels says, referring to Jude Demorest’s character.
Daniels said he avoided racism in his career because he never ’embraced it.’ “I would be an angry Black man,” he says.
In addition to Demorest, Hollywood A-listers Queen Latifah and Benjamin Bratt will be vital to the show’s cast.
This interview comes days before a special preview of “Star” is scheduled to air on FOX Dec. 14.
