{"id":25952,"date":"2015-09-11T17:14:54","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T23:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=25952"},"modified":"2015-09-11T17:14:54","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T23:14:54","slug":"the-jewish-writer-and-actor-who-is-the-voice-of-black-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/the-jewish-writer-and-actor-who-is-the-voice-of-black-america\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jewish writer and actor who is &#8216;the voice of black America&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>By CURT SCHLEIER<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>(JTA) \u00a0\u2014 Danny Strong is probably most recognizable as being \u201cthat Jewish guy\u201d on TV \u2014\u00a0he played eager adman wannabe Danny Siegel on \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jta.org\/2015\/05\/15\/arts-entertainment\/why-mad-men-was-one-of-tvs-most-deeply-jewish-shows\" target=\"_blank\">Mad Men<\/a>\u201d and the nerdy, perennial victim Jonathan Levinson on \u201cBuffy: The Vampire Slayer.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_25956\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/danny-and-cookie-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25956\" class=\"wp-image-25956 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/danny-and-cookie-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"EMPIRE: Pictured L-R: Series star Taraji P. Henson and Co-Creator \/Executive Producer Danny Strong behind the scenes of EMPIRE. Season Two premieres Wednesday, Sept. 23 (9:00-10:00 PM ET\/PT) on FOX.  \u00a92015 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Chuck Hodes\/FOX.\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/danny-and-cookie-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/danny-and-cookie-1-683x1024.jpg 683w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 200px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 200\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25956\" class=\"wp-image-25956 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/danny-and-cookie-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"EMPIRE: Pictured L-R: Series star Taraji P. Henson and Co-Creator \/Executive Producer Danny Strong behind the scenes of EMPIRE. Season Two premieres Wednesday, Sept. 23 (9:00-10:00 PM ET\/PT) on FOX.  \u00a92015 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Chuck Hodes\/FOX.\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/danny-and-cookie-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/danny-and-cookie-1-683x1024.jpg 683w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-25956\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Empire&#8221; co-creator Danny Strong, right, with series star Taraji P. Henson. (Chuck Hodes\/FOX)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>But, among those in the know, Strong may be best known as the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2015\/06\/10\/danny-strong-doyle-empire_n_7542820.html\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;voice of black America,&#8221; as one showrunner sarcastically quipped<\/a>. He&#8217;s the co-creator of the hip-hop-themed TV hit \u201cEmpire&#8221; and he also wrote the screenplay for Lee Daniels\u2019 &#8220;The Butler.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Empire&#8221; is centered on the struggle for the control of Empire Entertainment, a family-owned record label and mini conglomerate \u2014 a company started with drug money. It features bravura performances from major stars, including Terrence Howard (\u201cCrash,\u201d \u201cThe Butler\u201d) as Lucious, the family patriarch, and the Emmy-nominated Taraji P. Henson (\u201cPerson of Interest\u201d) as his wife, Cookie, who was mysteriously released early from prison.<\/p>\n<p>When it debuted last January, \u201cEmpire\u201d was almost an immediate hit, first among young African-American\u00a0viewers and then with white audiences. It ended the season as the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/deadline.com\/2015\/03\/empire-finale-ratings-high-fox-danny-strong-1201395097\/\" target=\"_blank\">highest-rated drama\u00a0<\/a>on broadcast TV with an especially high rating among in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic favored by advertisers.<\/p>\n<p>Who wouldn\u2019t be attracted to a program whose elevator pitch is basically \u201cDynasty\u201d meets \u201cGlee\u201d meets \u201cThe Godfather\u201d? Yet even Strong was surprised at how well it did. \u201cI had no idea it would become this successful,\u201d he says in a telephone interview with JTA.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking from his office in Los Angeles, he adds: \u201cI thought we would do pretty well because of the success of &#8216;The Butler\u2019 and the crossover appeal of hip-hop. But I underestimated how well it would do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think at the end of the day, it\u2019s a good show, and people like the characters,&#8221; he says. \u201cThe equation of what makes the show work is that it\u2019s a soap opera with really fun and juicy plotting balanced with an examination of social issues. It\u2019s a gritty family drama and, on top of that, there\u2019s the musical element.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The show&#8217;s soundtrack is provided by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/magazine\/2015\/03\/timbaland-empire-music\" target=\"_blank\">mega-hit producer Timbaland\u00a0<\/a>and tackles social issues such as homophobia, interracial marriage and a host of societal ills like drugs and murder.<\/p>\n<p>Yet another factor in the success of &#8220;Empire&#8221; has been the far-reaching media coverage about the show\u2019s diversity. Until its premiere, most primarily African-American shows on television had been comedies. Plus, &#8220;Empire,&#8221; in addition to\u00a0 having a mostly black cast, has a rainbow behind the scenes, both racially and in terms of sexual orientation. In fact,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment\/envelope\/emmys\/la-en-st-empire-game-changer-20150604-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">Strong was the only straight white man to direct an episode<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The series \u2014 which doesn\u2019t gloss over the thuggish elements of some parts of the African-American experience \u2014 hasn&#8217;t been without controversy. \u201cI\u2019ve heard there\u2019s been some blowback about Lucious and the criminal element of the show, his drug dealing past,\u201d Strong says. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to fight civil rights battles with this show or suggest that this story represents the African-American community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He argues it is probably similar to the complaints producers of &#8220;The Sopranos&#8221; likely received from Italian-American groups. \u201cWhite, African-American, Jewish or Irish, there\u2019s always been crime,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>But blowback or not, the show has \u201cexploded diversity among the networks,\u201d Strong continues. \u201cEveryone is trying to find more diverse programs, featuring Latino, Asian families. At the end of the day, Hollywood is going to create programs that are financially successful, and shows like &#8216;Blackish&#8217; and &#8216;Empire&#8217; have been financially successful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The idea for &#8220;Empire&#8221; came to him \u201cwhile I was driving in my car in L.A. There was a news radio piece about Puffy and some new business enterprise, and I thought to myself, &#8216;hip-hop is so cool, so much fun.&#8217; I had the idea of a music movie; the idea of doing something along the lines of &#8216;King Lear&#8217; or &#8216;The Lion in Winter.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Excited, he pitched the idea to Daniels, who \u201ccalled me back the next day and told me, \u2018I can\u2019t stop thinking about it. But I think it\u2019s a TV show and not a movie&#8217;.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pair fleshed out a multi-episode story line for a TV show and presented it to the networks. \u201cWe made our pitch the week after &#8216;The Butler&#8217; opened at number one in the box office and all four networks wanted it. A bidding war broke out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All this makes it so odd that Daniels last May veered so sharply off the road of political correctness in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, saying:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/features\/lee-daniels-damon-lindelof-a-794430\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cI hate white people writing for black people. It\u2019s so offensive.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was surprised he said it publicly,\u201d Strong says. \u201cI work very closely with Lee, and I\u2019m a white writer. So is [Executive Producer] Ilene Chaiken [who is also Jewish]. So he works with white writers and to take a public stance like that, I don\u2019t understand.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But Strong says he wasn&#8217;t offended. \u201cHe says whatever he feels. He\u2019s very unfiltered and quite refreshing. I didn\u2019t take that personally.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And if Daniels was uncomfortable, the reverse wasn\u2019t true. \u201cI would say that there have been countless events and parties and business situations where I am the only white person in the room, and I have never felt uncomfortable,\u201d Strong maintains. \u201cI have been completely embraced and felt nothing but love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Strong feels a special kinship with the &#8220;Empire&#8221; material in part because of his culturally Jewish upbringing. \u201cI think Jews feel very empathetic to any culture or race that faces discrimination,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEver since I was young I was very passionate about people being discriminated against in terms of civil rights or gay rights,&#8221; he adds. &#8220;There was something innate in me. That\u2019s part of why I like to tell these kinds of stories, even now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Writing, though, is a kind of obscure existence. Despite numerous successes and awards for screenplays such as &#8220;Recount&#8221; (about the 2000 presidential race) and &#8220;Game Change&#8221; (about Sarah Palin\u2019s 2008 vice-presidential candidacy), \u201cI\u2019m not through acting,&#8221; says Strong, who played Elijah&#8217;s boyfriend on &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jta.org\/2013\/01\/31\/arts-entertainment\/six-degrees-no-bacon\/lena-dunham-is-writing-another-hbo-show\" target=\"_blank\">Girls<\/a>.&#8221; &#8220;I take a few gigs a year for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Strong laughs at the obvious next question: Does he plan to write himself into &#8220;Empire&#8221;?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVanilla Jew? I never say never,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Empire&#8221; airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox starting Sept. 23.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"The%20Jewish%20writer%20and%20actor%20who%20is%20%27the%20voice%20of%20black%20America%27\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7139],"tags":[2216,8790,8795,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25957,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25952\/revisions\/25957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}