Lee Daniels is sharing his candid thoughts and diving into the world of television.
The 64-year-old director is most well known for making movies, but he got into TV with Empire, which went on to be a hit series on Fox.
However, while the show was a success for several years, running for six seasons, the filmmaker says it was “the worst experience” he’s had.
Keep reading to find out more…
“I don’t like staying in the same lane just as a creative. When I got into television, I really just wanted to be able to answer to suits,” he told The Film Stage. “I wanted to know what that experience was like. All of my friends, they get notes and sh-t. And I’m like, ‘What is that like?!’ You know what I mean? Because every film of mine had been independent. All of my sh-t is independent. You know, my first movie was developed with drug money. Monster’s Ball. We won the first Black woman an Oscar. Every one of my films has been independently financed where I’m able to do my thing and nobody is in my head.”
“I only did Empire just so I could see what that experience was like,” Lee continued, adding that it was horrible. “Absolutely the worst experience. Horrible! But guess what? F–king that money, money, money! I was able to put my kids through college and sh-t. So that in itself was worth it.”
Lee also noted that he didn’t understand what they were doing while making Empire.
“I was too busy about Cookie’s hat and the music hat I was trying to get to realize that I was shifting, literally, the culture,” he said. “That I had single-handedly shifted it with my show. That there wouldn’t have been a Black Panther, that there wouldn’t have been an Insecure. There wouldn’t have been a Black-ish. All of that sh-t happened because I did what I did. I was bold enough to say I don’t give a f–k about these notes that they’re giving me. I’m going to f–king do what I want to do because I don’t need you. Do you know what I mean?”
Since Empire, Lee also created and worked on Star, which had a crossover with Empire at one point. He has also produced several other TV projects like Our Kind of People, The Wonder Years and most recently, The Ms. Pat Show.
Lee‘s latest feature film is the horror movie The Deliverance, which recently premiered on Netflix. Watch the trailer here!
