‘Empire’ Star Bryshere Gray On His Humble Beginnings, Homophobia & Crushing On J.Lo

having a dad in my life. Trying to provide for my sister. So I came from not having anything to being on TV.

On whom he models the character Hakeem after: 

I created Hakeem to be a spoiled, young kid — like the kids that are out there who are not respecting their parents, not grateful for the things they have. That’s what you see in Hakeem. He’s a great musician, but he has a lot of flaws. He doesn’t want to grind as hard for the things he really wants. He wants to be a boss so bad; he wants to be Jay Z and Kanye, but he doesn’t want to work as hard for it. So that’s his main flaw. This is obviously an important show for so many reasons, one being that it addresses homophobia in the African American community.

If he’d like to talk to his dad, whose been absent in his life, he the opportunity presented itself: 

 You know, I would. I would. But I would need some time. And it has happened.

On the differences in how he handles real life situations verses his character Hakeem:

So I just need some time, and I just need to grow a little bit.You can almost experience what your character is going through in real life.Yeah. But the thing is, I’m more cautious than Hakeem. He’s more reckless. So I won’t act out. I’ll keep it all in and handle it as an adult.

His celebrity crush:

J.Lo. [Jennifer Lopez] I didn’t meet J.Lo, but I said hi to her before. At the TSAs … I was doing an interview with E! and she was getting ready for her interview and we caught eyes.

Click here for the full interview.

-@BMichavery