EMPIRE: Andre Royo Teases His Guest Arc

With Lucious Lyon in jail by the end of EMPIRE’s breakout first season, he’ll need a new ally in his corner: Andre Royo’s “Thirsty” Rawlings.

“[He]’s a lawyer,” Royo told reporters. “It’s [been] pretty cool, it’s a fun time…[Terrence Howard] is a very dynamic dude — [as is] the whole cast. It’s probably the closest to that theater feel; the script is there, and that’s a blueprint. I come from THE WIRE, 95 percent was on the page — don’t even try to ad lib, though I got away with [some]. But overall, with EMPIRE and me and Terrence, it’s a real dynamic theater [feel], and it helps me have a theatrical spin — everything is big, everything is over the top, and at the end of the day, you just enjoy. So I’m having a blast.”

Royo’s lawyer is not particularly musically inclined — but that could, of course, change. “If I do [a song], it will probably be more rapping,” he laughed.

In the meantime, Royo acknowledged he was enjoying the surreal element of being a part of a show that has already become such a huge hit.

“The viewership is humongous,” he said. “When we’re filming on location, I’ve never been a part of something like that…EMPIRE is a mega-show.”

0nce you join a hit show with a great cast…you gotta chill & soak it all in before you Blow! #Thirsty #Empire #Fox pic.twitter.com/A633QMEyYH

— Andre Royo (@AndreRoyo) July 30, 2015

And though Royo does have a regular gig with Amazon’s HAND OF GOD, he will appear in a nice chunk of EMPIRE’s second season.

“So far, I’m in six [episodes],” he said. “That’s a good little run.”

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EMPIRE returns Wednesday, September 23rd at 9 PM on Fox.

Related:

EMPIRE Season 2: Fox Releases the First Promo
EMPIRE: Andre Royo to Recur
EMPIRE: Marisa Tomei to Recur

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