Fox is expanding the Empire Season 2 cast ensemble and is banking on fans welcoming its move to turn the assistants of the show leads into regular cast members.
Reports indicate that the stories of Cookie Lyon's assistant, Porsha (Ta'Rhonda Jones), and Lucious Lyon's assistant, Becky (Gabourey Sidibe) will finally get some respect when the pair returns in the second season of the new hit series.
Becky was last seen taking notes for her boss Lucious (Terence Howard) when he was arrested in the season finale after his children framed him for a murder. Porsha was last seen telling Lucious about ex-wife Cookie's (Taraji P. Henson) romantic tryst with a new love interest.
The aides might just get juicier scenes beyond merely trailing the musical power couple as a TV Line interview with showrunner Ilene Chaiken revealed the Empire's view of Jones and Sidibe's characters, "We love them both and we want them both back as ongoing characters on the show."
Jones and Sidibe join the cast led by Howard and Henson, with their children played by Bryshere Y. Gray as Hakeem, Trai Byers as Andre, and Jussie Smollett as Jamal.
Season 2 is not into production yet but guest star Serayah McNeill who played Hakeem's musical partner Tiana Brown, is already saying "fans can look forward to more music and love" according to IBTimes.
Season 1 of the musical drama series ended with a commanding 16.7 million viewers. Two weeks into its premiere in early January, Fox had already confirmed its return for another season reports When-will.net.
The hip hop family drama series tells the story of a music empire set up by the Lyons. Empire is a creation of Lee Daniels and Danny Strong.
The series is inspired by the play, The Lion in Winter by American playwright James Goldman.
Empire Season 2 has not yet announced a premiere launch date.
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