'Empire' Season 2 Episode 1 Release Date & Spoilers: New Cast Member Announced!
Adam Rodriguez will have a recurring role in the second season of Fox's "Empire."
Several sources, including Entertainment Weekly, reported that Rodriguez will portray the character of concert promoter Laz Delgado, "a smooth talker with an expert ability to hustle." The former EMT and native New Yorker will also take a romantic interest on Taraji P. Henson's Cookie Lyon.
Rodriguez, who previously had appearances in "CSI: Miami" and "The Night Shift," joins other Season 2 guest stars such as Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz, Ne-Yo, and Chris Rock, Entertainment Weekly listed. Gabourey Sidibe (Becky) and Ta'Rhonda Jones (Porsha), who play as Lucious' (Terrence Howard) and Cookie's assistants, were also promoted to series regulars in the upcoming season, TV Line reported.
Before his stint on "Empire," Rodriguez will first appear in this summer's Channing Tatum-starrer "Magic Mike XXL.".
Last month, Fox CEO and Chairman Gary Newman confirmed that the second series of the hip-hop drama will have 18 episodes, as opposed to Season 1's 12-episode run, a separate report from Entertainment Weekly noted.
The show's Season 1 finale scored 16.7 million viewers and a 6.5 in the 18-49 demographic, the news outlet wrote. There were questions whether Fox is planning to move "Empire" into a Thursday slot, which is the most profitable weekday in advertisements. But doing so would mean that the series will have to face ABC's "Scandal," a political drama which also comes on strong in the ratings game.
"We'd be crazy to move it," said Newman, as quoted by Entertainment Weekly. "We want to thank and reward our fans by keeping it in that time period... The stories we've heard already for season 2 will blow away the audience."
Fox's other Chairman and CEO Dana Walden said that the new cast members of "Empire" are there to help the network by not only bringing back "an audience that fell in love with the show, but help expand it as well," the news outlet reported.
"Empire" will return on Fox on Wednesday, September 23 at 9 PM. Henson first tweeted about Season 2's premiere date on May 29, which was quickly followed by a confirmation posted on the same site by "Empire" writers.
Henson won the Critics' Choice TV Award for actress in a drama last Sunday for her work on "Empire," Variety reported. Henson's win marks her as the first African-American actress to win in the category. According to the news outlet, Fox has been "touting 'Empire' and the actress in Emmy campaigns."