Lee Daniels Brings More Music and Diversity to Fox With New TV show ‘Star’

The Knockturnal interviewed the stars of Fox’s upcoming new series “Star,” and learned how Lee Daniels’ vision for his new show shies away from “Empire,” yet builds off of it too.

There’s choreography, R&B, Pop, more drama, and characters with more depth and diversity in Star.

Jude Demorest had auditioned for Empire, and after realizing that it wasn’t the right fit, because it was a mainly Spanish speaking role, and she doesn’t speak Spanish, casting director Leah Daniels considered her for the role of Lee Daniel’s new show Star, where Demorest is set to play the lead role of Star Davis.

She described crying the first time she read the script: “The script was one of the most moving things I have ever read, and I never wanted a part more,” Demorest said.

Demorest’s character is an 18-year-old aspiring singer, who has had a rough childhood and is someone who grew up in foster homes, after the death of her mother. The series is Daniels’ second musically scripted show after Empire, and this time, it brings choreography, a different genre of tunes, and more entertaining drama.

“Sean Bankhead is the greatest choreographer of all time,” Demorest continued. Describing the choreography in Star she says: “ It’s Lee’s love of Dreamgirls and Sweet Charity mixed with Sean’s natural knowledge of what’s cool in the streets and what’s cool in with millennials—The Sean Bankhead and Lee Daniels combination— has made this show that much better.”

Benjamin Bratt is also making a comeback to television with Lee’s new story, and talks about his character, Jahil Rivera, having a lot of layers to him. “He’s a complex dude. He’s clearly someone who’s battling his own personal demons. He’s an addict,” Bratt said. “You don’t really see it in the pilot, but he has a cocaine problem. He’s a drinker. And he masks a lot of emotions by using these various substances to try to cope.”

Bratt plays a talent manager who discovers Star and plans to make her famous and become successful. He shares that his character is based off Daniels early life, in some aspects. Getting to act for TV again and play a character based on Daniels allows him to explore Daniels in a “more detailed fashion as opposed to a two-hour movie,” Bratt says.

Benjamin Bratt and Jude Demorest’s characters bring a lot of diversity to the screen. Lee Daniels wanted to have a diverse cast to send a message to viewers about the current social climate in America.

“I thought that we were on the brink of civil war,” Daniels said. “We needed to have a white woman at the beginnings of the story. I thought that her, having a half-white sister and her best friend be black showed unity that we need because this country needs healing.”

The show also features Lenny Kravitz and Queen Latifah. Star premieres Dec. 14 on Fox at 9/8c.

Jude Demorest

This is a lifetime role.

Demorest: It’s crazy right. I auditioned for Empire so I met Leah, who’s the casting director.

I heard she’s everything.

Demorest: She’s everything and more. And that wasn’t the role for me. It was Spanish speaking and I don’t speak Spanish. And then when this came around we had already met. And this was the role that was right.

Tell me when you got that first script what was it like reading it?

Demorest: I cried. The script was one of the most moving things I have ever read, the most moving thing I have ever read and and I never wanted a part more.

Talk about working with Lee. Is it like a dream come true?

Demorest: It is. It’s an actual dream come true and he is the brave one, so it’s cool to get to work with somebody to tell stories that haven’t been told.

That choreography number, that was a lot.

Demorest: Sean Bankhead the greatest choreographer of all time.

I was not expecting that. How did he put that piece together?

Demorest: That is Lee’s love of Dreamgirls and Sweet Charity mixed with Sean’s natural knowledge of what’s cool in the streets and what’s cool in with millennials. The Sean Bankhead and Lee Daniels combination has made this show that much better.,

Benjamin Bratt

Did you ever see yourself back on TV after doing movies for so long with such a fun return?

Bratt: Yeah, listen, the professional game for an actor has completely changed. There’s no longer a bias or noticeable division between film actors and television actors. The writing these days and the opportunities to be had on television and outside the film space, because you can participate in shows now that are not necessarily on television, has grown exponentially. You have movie actors with the evaporation of serious films being offered clamoring to get onto television. So you know I’m very fortunate. I count myself as blessed over the last couple of decades to easily go back and forth between film and television and that’s in fact how I met Lee. The first time he hired me as a producer on his film called The Woodsman, and that began our friendship back in the early 2000’s. We were always meant to reconnect and work together and so that it happens to happen within a television form is not a negative thing. It’s actually a draw because it allows me to explore a complex character based on his early life in a more detailed fashion, just by the nature of the time, we’re shooting 12 to 15 episodes a season as opposed to a two hour movie.

This character [Jahil] as you can already tell has a lot of layers to him. Talk about bringing him to the screen and what we can possibly see this season?

Bratt: Jahil Rivera is a complex dude. He’s clearly someone who’s still battling his own personal demons. He’s an addict. You don’t really see it in the pilot, but he has a cocaine problem. He’s a drinker. And he masks a lot of emotions by using these various substances to try to cope. But he’s also got burning within him the undying spirit of an artist, much like Lee did when he was a young manager in LA, and he’s just now coming to a point where he can reconcile perhaps his reckless behavior with that burning artistic spirit and shifting gear into a new place. He discovers these new women. He clearly understands and recognizes their talent and knows if he can reign in his own personal behavior, that he could perhaps ride this all the way to the top. So it leaves him in an interesting position because he’s got to give up a lot of his immature behavior to make that transition.

Often on Lee’s television stage we see his characters getting musical. Do we see you possibly getting musical this season?

Bratt: The don’t pay me enough to sing baby [laughs]. The don’t pay me enough [laughs]. But check it out, almost everyone on the show and you’ll be surprised and how many people I’ve discovered, I’ve counted it’s almost 10 people who can sing. So you know, I’ve got a new inspiration.

Lee Daniels

You switch up the cast this year and you have a different diverse [cast]. Did you think about it before; not having a black lead was that a difficult choice or was that a natural choice?

Lee: No. I thought that we were on the brink of civil war and that we needed to have a white woman at the beginnings of the story. I thought that her, having a half – white sister and her best friend be black showed unity that we need because this country needs healing.

The music is very different from Empire. It’s a bit more R&B and more Pop, talk about switching up the music from Empire to Star.

Lee: I wanted to make a different show so I couldn’t keep the same music, could I? That’s why I did it.

OJ Williams contributed reporting.

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