Wesley Snipes is upping the ante for his first major TV role.
The veteran actor stars alongside Philip Winchester in NBC's new action-packed gambling thriller, "The Player," but at one point, Wesley was approached to join another show.
At the Television Critics Association Winter Tour in January 2015, "Empire" creator Lee Daniels said he was talking to Wesley about the part of Lucious Lyon, before the producer ended up bringing Terrence Howard on board.
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"It wasn't as good of a situation for me," Wesley told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Friday's Access Hollywood Live about the "Empire" role.
"['The Player'] was a better deal, it was a better combination of people, and I wouldn't have been able to do the kind of range of acting that I can do on this show," he added.
WATCH: Wesley Snipes Talks High Stakes Role In 'The Player'
As cunning and mysterious pit boss Mr. Johnson, Wesley told Billy and Kit he's pleased with the level of responsibility and skill he's been able to implement on set.
"[He's] a facilitator, he has to go into different worlds. … That gives him an opportunity to move through all of these different cultures and interact with these different people, good and bad," he said. "I get to play with accents and do disguises, and action – the martial arts, as well."
"The Player" may have high stakes to meet, but Wesley has no hard feelings about "Empire's" massive success.
"It all worked out for the best. Everybody's happy. So far," he chuckled.
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When asked if he watches "Empire," the "Blade" star said he likes to stay informed on industry trends to help keep his instincts sharp.
"Of course. I see pretty much everything," he said. "I'm a producer as well, so we're not looking just at what I can do or what I'm doing as the actor, I'm also looking at the medium as a business. You gotta see what the talent is doing, you gotta see what the competition is doing and who the new faces are, and what the audiences are responding to."
Despite a decades-long movie career, Wesley acknowledged the importance of embracing TV's new golden age. He told Billy and Kit that his work on "The Player" has helped him meet long-standing showbiz goals.
"TV is expanding all over the world, and so it just made a lot sense for me to jump into the fire," he said. "I had always promised myself I would try to do every genre of entertainment that there was. And so far, I'm checking them off the bucket list."
His experience also has its benefits. Wesley said that he's now usually able to avoid long audition processes newer actors endure incessantly. Being offered shows like "The Player," is a privilege he's grateful to have earned.
"You know, I've been pretty fortunate with a pretty robust career, a very diverse career, and so I don't have to audition as much as I used to back in the '80s and the early '90s," he smiled. "People call up and they kind of got an idea of what I can do."
However, Wesley did say there's one aspect of his talent that he hasn't gotten a chance to showcase.
"They haven't seen me do my song and dance yet," he added. "That's coming."
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"The Player" premieres on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 10 PM ET/PT on NBC.
-- Erin Biglow
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