Lee Daniels Refers To ‘Empire’ As The Worst Experience; Says The Money Was Good And Helped Put His Kids Through School!

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Lee Daniels is shedding light on his experience creating the hit original series ‘Empire’ with Fox as he expresses that the process wasn’t an enjoyable one for him!

With a lengthy resume in independent filmmaking ranging from box office hits such as ‘Precious’ and ‘The Buttler’, Lee admitted in a recent interview with Deadline that he wanted to gain experience in working with a major television network. “I only did Empire just so I could see what that experience was like.”

The co-creator explained, “I don’t like staying in the same lane just as a creative. When I got into television, I just wanted to be able to answer to suits. I wanted to know what that experience was like.”

Though the musical series was a certified hit and helped him successfully transition from filmmaking to broadcast television; when asked about his personal experience Lee responded by saying, “Horrible.”

“Absolutely the worst experience. Horrible. But guess what? F—ing that money, money, money! I was able to put my kids through college and and shit. So that in itself was worth it.”

While reflecting on his new film ‘The Deliverance’ starring Mo’Nique, Andra Day, Glenn Close, and Aunjanue Ellis, Lee explained that his experience with the super streaming service platform Netflix allowed him to gain new experiences in developing a project as a director.

“I have final cut at Netflix because otherwise I wasn’t interested in doing the film,” he said. “But they wanted – ‘they’ meaning Netflix – wanted jump scares every second. And I did not know how to do that.”

“And I said, ‘Listen, man, I can’t do this. I don’t know how… it does not compute.’” He goes on to say that his favorite movies were character-based horror films like “The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen.”