*Lee Daniels, the co-creator and executive producer of the Fox hit music drama “Empire,” is expanding his nighttime TV soap dominance with yet another series set in the music world. “Star” revolves around three young, female singers who navigate the music business on their road to success.
Daniels gave viewers an early preview of “Star” last month. Set in Atlanta, the drama features newcomer Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny, Brittany O’Grady, Amiyah Scott, Quincy Brown, Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award, Grammy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Queen Latifah, and Benjamin Bratt, who plays Jahil Rivera — a down-on-his-luck talent agent looking to revitalize his career.
EUR/Electronic Urban Report chatted with Bratt ahead of Wednesday night’s series kick off, about whether he pulled from the personas of any real life, notorious talent agents to help occupy Jahil’s headspace.
“I did in fact. I pulled directly from Lee Daniels’ early life, himself. That for me was the big draw in taking this role on,” Bratt revealed.
He added, “I had worked with Lee back in 2004 when he produced the film called The Woodsman and of course, having worked with him on that and then following his body of work over the course of the years, he’s clearly someone who enjoys the role of provocateur.”
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Bratt’s character believes the musical trio is his ticket back to the top of the music industry, and he explained how Jahil Rivera is a reflection of Daniels during his younger days working as an account manager to actors.
“When he called me to talk about the world he wanted to create, it all sounded fascinating to me, but the number one thing that pulled me in was that on some level he designed Jahil Rivera as a reflection of himself of when he was a younger man and working in Los Angeles as an account manager to actors.”
He continued, “The reason that fascinated me was that obviously Lee is nothing if not provocative in both personality and in the subject matter he likes to explore. He’s also someone who obviously on record has had his various issues with substance abuse and personal behavior that has maybe at times derailed his personal plan for himself.,” said Bratt.
The Emmy Award nominee noted how he liked that Daniels “was going to explore that with this character.”
“So when Star begins, we come upon a guy who is down on his luck, had a moment of fame likely back in the late ’90s and has been waiting for the right time and the right star to hitch his wagon to to try to extend that ladder to success and fame once again.”
Bratt doesn’t see any parallels with Jahil’s struggle in the music industry and his own journey as a television actor.
“I don’t have enough familiarity with the music industry to make a fair comparison between it and some of the television industry. By all accounts, the music industry is far more cut-throat.”
Catch “Star” when the series premieres Wednesday, Jan. 4 on FOX.
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