*“Empire” will return for its fourth season this fall with Forest Whitaker in a new guest starring role.
The Oscar winning actor, director and producer will play “Uncle Eddie,” a charismatic music icon and bonafide hitmaker who gave an unknown Lucious (Terrence Howard) his first radio airplay. Decades later, Eddie steps up for Lucious at a critical moment during his rehabilitation, and a grateful Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) invites him to produce a song in celebration of Empire Entertainment’s 20th anniversary.
“Empire” returns Wednesday, Sept. 27 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). On the Season 4 premiere, Lucious makes his first public appearance after the explosion in Las Vegas, while all members of the Lyon family have their own interests in Lucious regaining his physical and mental faculties.
In February 2018, he will be seen in “Marvel’s Black Panther,” opposite Chadwick Boseman. Whitaker also had several films in production last year, including “Burden,” opposite Tom Wilkinson and Garrett Hedlund; “The Forgiven,” in which he portrays Archbishop Desmond Tutu, opposite Eric Bana; and “LAByrinth,” opposite Johnny Depp.
He currently is filming the streaming feature “How It Ends,” opposite Theo James.
Whitaker won the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film “The Last King of Scotland.”
