Cookie Lyon is arguably the baddest woman on TV?and we say that with love.
Lee Daniels and Danny Strong created Empire and its most beloved character, but as Taraji P. Henson explains in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar, she modeled Luscious Lyon's ex after her late father. the 44-year-old Emmy Award nominated actress tells the mag, "He had no buffer. He spoke the truth. It's heroic because in this society we have been trained to be politically correct. Political correctness is bull. If I ask you a question right now, the first thing that comes in your mind is the truth. But we've all be been trained to breathe, digest the question, and manipulate the answer. Cookie doesn't do that."
Cookie has the best zingers on the Fox series, returning Sept. 23, and she also has the most outrageous wardrobe. Asked to pick her favorite outfit, she says, "Alaïa black catsuit, hands down. I've even worn some of my own stuff, like my Balmain leather. I have to meet [designer] Olivier Rousteing; I need to be his friend."
