Jana B. here,

Terrence Howard is one of the most hard-working and in-demand actors the film industry has to its credit. Right now, he has 8 projects that are in development. That doesn’t even include some of the powerhouse films he is just on the backside of like ‘Prisoners‘, and the award winning ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’.

It’s no wonder why Lee Daniels and Danny Strong have asked Howard to take the lead role of the duo’s newest venture after ‘The Butler‘. ‘Empire‘, a drama set in the hip-hop world. Howard will play Lucious Lyon, the head of a record label. Lucious is described as charismatic, tough, wise and a superstar in the music industry who oversees Empire Entertainment and is about to take the company public. Raised on the streets, he has never backed away from a fight and will resort to any measures, fair or foul to defend his place in the industry with Empire Entertainment.

Daniels is the driving force behind ‘Empire‘ among other films that leave strong impressions with you after watching them. ‘Monsters Ball‘, ‘Precious‘, ‘The Woodsman‘ and ‘The Butler’. Strong is the writer of ‘The Butler’ and parts 1 and 2 of ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay‘ and is taking the reigns in writing ‘Empire’.

Howard has spent time working as ‘Sheriff Pope’ in a made for TV adaptation of ‘Wayward Pines‘ being produced by M. Night Shyamalan and set to debut in July. Howard has spent some time on TV previously by headlining the cast for the short-lived NBC ‘Law & Order’ spinoff ‘Law & Order: LA‘.

Since receiving a 2006 Oscar nomination for ‘Hustle and Flow‘, Howard has become a household name. His wide acting range makes him a good, solid go-to guy for film and TV, especially if you need a hard-edged-but-caring cop. He was excellent as Detective Mercer in ‘The Brave One’, Lt. Green in ‘Four Brothers‘ and Detective Lucetti in the little-talked about but intriguing ‘The Ledge’. I found that one when I was hip-deep in a Charlie Hunnam crush-phase.