Ĭhris Rock, Lenny Kravitz and Alicia Keys were originally slated to guest star as themselves, but it was later revealed that Rock would play Frank Gathers. They will be playing their respective roles as Porsha Taylor, personal assistant to Cookie, Becky Williams, executive assistant to Lucious at Empire Entertainment and Tiana Brown, a R&B-pop artist signed to Empire Entertainment, respectively.
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In addition, Ta'Rhonda Jones, Gabourey Sidibe and Serayah McNeill were upgraded to series regulars after being billed as recurring characters during season one.
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Kaitlin Doubleday will play Rhonda Lyon, Andre's power-hungry and money-obsessed wife who must deal with killing Uncle Vernon in order to protect Andre and her pregnancy, as revealed in the season one finale. Other series regulars returning are Grace Gealey, who will reprise her character Anika Calhoun, former head of Empire Entertainment A&R and Lucious' ex fiancée who has worked together with Cookie replace the acting board of directors at Empire. Gray will portray Hakeem Lyon, the fame-obsessed youngest son and Lucious' favorite child, who is a hip hop star on the rise and has been included in the hostile takeover with his mother, Anika and Andre. Jussie Smollett will play Jamal Lyon, the middle son and "black sheep" of the Lyon family, a talented, gay singer-songwriter who has been given control over Empire from his father, Lucious. Lucious and Cookie have three sons: Andre Lyon, the eldest son of the Lyon family and CFO of Empire Entertainment who will be played by Trai Byers, and will deal with his wife killing Uncle Vernon in the previous season finale. Henson will play Cookie Lyon, Lucious' outspoken ex-wife and mother of his three sons, who served 17 years in prison, and have now made a hostile takeover for Empire Entertainment with Anika, Andre and Hakeem. Terrence Howard will portray Lucious Lyon, a former drug dealer turned hip hop mogul and the CEO of Empire Entertainment who now is imprisoned. The second season had ten roles receiving star billing, with seven of them returning from the previous season, in addition to three characters upgraded from the first season. Filming began on June 23, 2015, as confirmed by Fox, in addition to Chris Rock being spotted on set.
![what empire season 2 episode 1 what empire season 2 episode 1](https://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/lg/public/2015/09/08/jamal-cookie.jpg)
It was announced to contain 18 episodes, split into two parts, with ten episodes in the fall, and the remaining eight episodes after the Christmas break, beginning in January. Empire was renewed for a second season on January 17, 2015, by Fox after only two episodes had aired.