'Empire' season 3 spoilers: Casting underway for young Cookie and young Lucious
Expect to see two Cookies and two Luciouses when the third season of "Empire" returns to Fox.
Reports revealed that the critically acclaimed hip-hop musical drama will showcase the history Empire Entertainment's power couple, portrayed by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.
According to reports, the producers are looking for young African-American actors who will play the role of the teenage Loretha, who will later on change her name to Cookie (Henson), as well as the teenage Lucious (Howard).
Yahoo! TV revealed that the teenage Loretha/Cookie will appear as a "beautiful but innocent Catholic schoolgirl." Meanwhile, the teenage Lucious will already show that he "possesses an incredible voice and his own sense of style" at a young age.
The actress who will be cast to portray the role of the young Cookie Lyon could also appear in executive producer Lee Daniels' planned spin-off, which he announced during the summer 2015 Television Critics Association press tour as reported by TVLine.
"There is going to be a spinoff from Empire, without question," the showrunner said. "There's so much ripe story that we've talked about already— about Cookie's family, what makes her her. That in itself is fascinating to me."
Daniels explained during the press panel that the spin-off will act as a prequel that will center on Cookie's past life in North Philadelphia.
"Here Cookie is now, but how did she get to where she's at right now?" he explained. "Let's go back and understand her mother, her sisters.... Let's understand the makings of her... It'd be like a prequel."
Aside from the teenage version of the Lyon patriarch and matriarch, the series is also looking for two young actresses who will portray the role of teenage Catholic schoolgirls who will eventually turn out to be Tasha Smith and Vivica A. Fox's characters Carol and Candace, Cookie's sisters.
They are also looking for 14-year-old to 18-year-old boys who can beatbox and rap.
The characters will be introduced in the third season of "Empire," which will premiere on Fox on Sept. 21.
