Chris Rock is officially behind bars with Terrence Howard on Empire, as the comedian began shooting his guest appearance on the hit Fox drama this week.
The show’s co-creator Lee Daniels gave his Instagram followers a behind-the-scenes peek at the prison, currently housing Lucious Lyon (Howard).
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“My first day was incredible — I worked with the great Terrence Howard, the great Lee Daniels,” said Rock, sporting an orange jumpsuit.
Howard added of Rock’s first day on set, “Terrence punched him in the stomach by accident.” Rock then jabbed lightheartedly, “I don’t know if it was an accident — he does have a reputation!” in reference to Howard’s previous domestic violence allegations.
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Fellow co-creator Danny Strong previously teased Rock’s role as “a person from the past” during last month’s Television Academy panel.
Yet showrunner Ilene Chaiken said the writers are making sure to not let the famous faces popping in overshadowing the core group. “The biggest challenge, I feel, is to stay true to the stories, to stay true to the characters,” she said. “To make sure that Empire continues to be about this family and these relationships and not to loose sight of that in the midst of all of the fabulous opportunities to bring great guest stars onto this show, which we are going to do, but Empire is the Lyons.”
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This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.