Empire’s Gabourey Sidibe and Ta’Rhonda Jones Promoted to Series RegularsPosted by Wilson Morales
April 21, 2015
Source: TVLine
TVLine is reporting that Empire actresses Gabourey Sidibe and Ta’Rhonda Jones, who play Lucious’ and Cookie’s respective assistants Becky and Porsha, have been elevated to series regulars for Season 2.
As the site also stated, following Empire‘s Season 1 finale, Ilene Chaiken commented on the series-regular prospects of Sidibe and Jones, telling TVLine’s Michael Slezak, “We love them both, and we want them both back as ongoing characters on the show.”
Sidibe appeared in 8 of the first 12 episodes in Season 1. Nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010 for her role in Lee Daniels’ Precious, Sidibe has carved a nice career in film and television. Along with Empire, she also appeared on the third season of FX’s American Horror Story, portraying Queenie, a young witch; as well on its fourth season, American Horror Story: Freak Show as a secretarial school student, Regina Ross.
Ta’Rhonda Jones appeared in 9 of 12 episodes. Hailing from Chicago, this was her first series. She also did an episode on NBC’s Chicago P.D.
Created by Academy Award nominee Lee Daniels (“Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Precious”) and Emmy Award winner Danny Strong (“Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Game Change”), the series stars Academy Award nominees Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson along with Trai Byers, Jussie Smollett, Bryshere Gray, Kaitlin Doubleday, and Grace Gealey.
Here are notable facts on the show from Wikipedia – The show’s premiere ranked as Fox’s highest-rated debut in three years. Viewership has increased continuously; Empire is the first series in at least 23 years to have its viewership increase week to week for its first five episodes. The show continues to increase its viewership with further episodes. As of its first season finale, Empire has now surpassed The Big Bang Theory as the highest rated scripted program in the 2014-2015 television season. The first season finale is also the highest rated freshman season finale since May 2005, when Grey’s Anatomy ended its first season. Empire’s season one finale grew 82 percent from its series premiere, making it the show that has grown the most over the course of its first season since Men in Trees during the 2006-2007 season.
