Author: Danielle Turchiano

Chuck Hodes/FOX

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the 10th episode of Empire‘s first season, “Sins of the Father.”]

After a few weeks of talking about and around Olivia (Raven-Symoné) and whether or not Jamal (Jussie Smollett) was actually the father of her adorable little girl, Empire finally delivered the answers for which so many — including the cast themselves — were waiting.

The verdict is in — no DNA test required — and Jamal is not Lola’s (Leah Jeffries) father.

“I was the first one also to be like, ‘Jamal! Get a DNA test!’ [But] I think that there is a part of Jamal that is kind of living in this world of, ‘Could I do this?’ He and the family do bond with this beautiful little baby girl. I think there’s a part of Jamal that, deep down inside, he wants to believe that she is his. He’s got such a big heart,” Smollett told The Hollywood Reporter.

Unfortunately, Jamal’s heart was broken in the 10th episode of the season, “Sins of the Father,” when Olivia returned to the Lyon’s Den to claim her child, gruff, abusive boyfriend in tow. Things got heated between the two men when Jamal realized Reg (Jerod Haynes) wasn’t just hurting Olivia but Lola, too, and Reg pulled a gun on him — only for Lucious (Terrence Howard) to step up and claim Lola as his.

While it was the first truly compassionate move anyone has seen from Lucious — asking Reg to kill him and spare his son — it must be said that it wasn’t completely unselfish, as Lucious probably figured a death by gunshot would at least be quicker than death by ALS. But regardless, the admission left everyone with a sour taste in their mouths as they realized just how much Lucious had manipulated and used Olivia over the years.

Read more Fox Plots ‘Empire’ Season 2: Lee Daniels Courts Oprah, Pushes for Less “Opulence”

THR talked with Raven-Symoné about her arc as Olivia in season one, the bigger meaning behind her early years as Jamal’s beard, and if she is in talks to return for season two.

When Olivia was first introduced there were some questions about her timing of returning to the Lyons’ lives and if she was just there to get hers. Were you concerned about audience response?

I think with Empire the more drama the better! So I was hoping that people would start saying, “Oh my goodness, is this real? Who is she?” I think people need to talk about the characters, and people need to talk about these issues.

The back story of Jamal and Olivia’s marriage was originally in the pilot but cut for time. Were you approached back then to play the role?

Oh no, it was like the day before filming needed to start [for episode six]! This was definitely a last minute thing that has turned into an amazing opportunity for me and my career. I was actually already already in Chicago visiting; Jussie and Lee [Daniels] and Taraji [P. Henson] and Terrence and I, we all know each other, and the day before Jussie popped into the room I was in and was like, “Girl!” and told me about the part. And I was like, “What!?” And it went from there. I did a hair and makeup test and the next morning I was on the stage.

You and Jussie have been friends for a long time, so what was the process like of creating the history for these characters?

We never had a romantic relationship, but we definitely, living in method acting worlds, acted how we normally would. (Laughs.) It was very natural and easy. I’m happy that he was as excited to work with me as I was excited to work with him. We had never really worked together; we did a little music together prior to him being on the show, but as my best friend, normally we act like that when we’re out in a club having fun. “Let’s do a Grease rendition; let’s pretend we’re a couple and have fun on the dance floor!” He’s my bro.

Read more ‘Empire’s’ Jussie Smollett Breaks Down Jamal’s Coming Out

What kind of artist was Olivia back in the day that made Lucious think she was the perfect one to pair up with Jamal?

We haven’t talked about it yet. I’m kind of over the stage in my career [where I want to pitch who she has to be]. I used to do that a lot when I was coming up and trying to make sure that my quote-unquote brand was solidified, but now I leave it to Lee and Danny Strong and [showrunner] Ilene Chaiken. I trust where they want this character to go. They know me as a person, and I’ll go there. There are some limitations [to what I would do], but I don’t think they’d push me to a point where I’d feel uncomfortable. I want them to bring it on!

The story of a fake relationship to hide someone’s true sexuality is one that happens more than we probably know, especially in Hollywood, but is not shown on-screen often. How did you feel about exploring something so deep but little talked about?

I think that’s what Lee Daniels does best: shining a light on stories and situations that society sweeps under the rug. People can live a long time in heterosexual relationships on the outside when they’re actually homosexual on the inside. They may come out later in their years because they were afraid or they had no one to look up to to help them, and I think having this show helps. It helps show the fluidity of sex. Nowadays I don’t really want to be labeled either way, but I want people to understand what I’m talking about. Sex is fluid, and Jamal and Olivia did have sex once!

But it really was Lucious who manipulated them into a public marriage. Jamal was young and not ready to come out and trying to please his father. What was Olivia’s motivation in going along with it?

Fame and fortune and being a part of a family like the Lyons!

Yet when she returned, it wasn’t for a payday. She first left Lola with Jamal to keep her safe, and then even in “Sins of the Father,” things were much more complicated with her being controlled by Reg.

Olivia came back to save her daughter. She wouldn’t have come back if her boyfriend didn’t find her. You know, I hear a lot of different stories of doing the unthinkable to save their offspring, and I don’t have a child, so I can’t fully embrace it, but I can certainly act as if I had one. And that’s what I went through: “Let me think about how I would be in this situation.” And it also helps with the writing and the people around me; it just slipped off the tongue. She was such a well-rounded character that I didn’t have to do much because it was right there. This is what she was doing, and she was doing it to save her daughter. And many people might not be able to get out of certain situations, but I was treating her like a strong person.

Read more ‘Empire’ Boss Explains Olivia’s Entrance, Lucious’ Season-Long Drive, Triggers for Andre

And let’s just put it out there: calling the character Olivia has to be a nod to The Cosby Show. Can we pretend it’s the same character, all grown up?

I think that’s a little bad! (Laughs.) But hey, maybe the industry just really likes that name for me, and it’s jump-started my career, so I’ll take it!

What has the discussion been for Olivia to return in season two?

Lee has said there will be opportunity for Olivia to pop in and out and for more of the story to be revealed and more great tension [to arise].

It certainly seems like Olivia and Jamal may have some things to work through after learning who Lola’s father actually is!

I hope they do! Otherwise we’d just be perpetuating what we don’t want people to do, which is keeping their mouths shut about crazy stuff! I think we definitely have to show why Olivia and Jamal have a connection anyway that would make Lucious want them to marry each other, and I would love to be able to perform [musically] with my best friend [too]. I don’t think it would be Empire if they didn’t talk about it, but there is nothing set in concrete yet.

Empire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox. What do you think of Olivia’s story? Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to bookmark The Live Feed for lots of Empire pre-finale coverage, and of course, the weekly postmortem.

Twitter: @danielletbd

Chuck Hodes/FOX

Empire showrunner Ilene Chaiken previously told The Hollywood Reporter that “the best relationship — the most loving relationship — is between two people who are pretty dark and twisted,” referring to Andre (Trai Byers) and Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday). But Rhonda just signed Andre over for a psychiatric hold, effectively giving herself a lot of power within Empire Entertainment as his proxy for the time he is away.

“I never thought about it that way!” Doubleday tells The Hollywood Reporter of Rhonda’s motivations. “I think she’s really heartbroken. I think the idea that her husband is gone [means] her world is shattered because everything is Empire [for them]. They’re power hungry, but without him, she’s not working; she doesn’t go in every morning; she can never take his place. She wants him to get better and go back to work! She needs him at that freaking company so he can run [it]. It’s everything they worked for for the past 10 years.”

Everything Andre and Rhonda worked for, though, is threatened to be out of their grasp now that his family has been forced to confront just how bad his disease can be when he’s not on his meds. THR spoke with Doubleday about all of that and has an exclusive sneak peek of what to expect from Wednesday’s episode, “Sins of the Father,” below.

Read more ‘Empire’s’ Trai Byers on Andre’s Breakdown, Relationship With Jennifer Hudson

How did Andre and Rhonda become such a strong team?

Rhonda came from nothing — from a white trash family — and Andre was kind of ostracized from his family. They went to U Penn, where they met, and I think that she was smart enough in her white trash family to get straight As and know that she was going to leave it [and them]. Andre was alone and needed her. They were kind of two lone wolves that became super attached.

Andre has had some real bass in his voice a couple of times when he’s been in his disease and not wanting to deal with Rhonda trying to help him. Yet she never flinches, clearly never believing he’d ever actually hurt her.

She’s not scared of him at all. She knows he wouldn’t be able to function without her. Even if Andre had a best friend on the show or anybody else — an ally — maybe that would be different. But he spends his time with Rhonda or working, and that’s it. And this has happened for so long, over all of these years, they’re such a unit. He had a breakdown really early on in their relationship, and she’s sort of the only person that he’s ever been super close to. Everything they do, they do together.

Why do you think Rhonda is so willing to do so much for Andre? At times it almost seems like she’s sacrificing parts of herself for him, like spending so much time in a family and a company that is led by a man who doesn’t respect her or welcome her.

Here’s the way I look at it: when I heard Lucious said the “white bitch” thing or whatever, I was surprised; I didn’t see it coming really because there have been a lot of times where we’ve cheersed at his dinner or he invited Andre and Rhonda over for this or that, so when we realized that that element was going to be added to the show, it’s kind of like, she knows that he was a drug dealer. Obviously he’s a talented rapper and he got to the top [on that], but he’s a drug dealer who was a bad father, so she looks at it like, “I don’t respect your dad at all. He’s just a necessary evil for us taking over this company that, in my opinion, you built.” She’s a social climber, essentially, and she will smile and nod; she’ll take it, but she doesn’t respect him. If he hates her, she doesn’t care. It’s not like he’ll get Andre from her. He’s never going to win.

Has there been a moment where you’ve just wanted Rhonda to say, “Screw it, we’re going to take our talents and our knowledge to another company?”

It sounds easier than it would actually be! (Laughs.) I get that, “Go work somewhere else; you’re Wharton educated!” But you’re Wharton educated and you’re bipolar and you don’t take your meds, and your father literally owns a billion-dollar company that has his hands in [everything]. Leaving that literal empire, he would feel completely alone, and I think without the job and what he’s done to get there, he wouldn’t have any relationship with his family, and that would make him feel [worse]. 

Read more TV Ratings: ‘Empire’ Won’t Stop Getting Bigger, Hits Eighth Week of Growth

Be sure to watch THR’s exclusive sneak peek at “Sins of the Father” here.

Empire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox. Be sure to come back to THR‘s The Live Feed after the episode Wednesday for our weekly postmortem.

Twitter: @danielletbd