Enforced Method Acting: Taraji P. Henson revealed that the rest of the cast didn't know she'd be wearing a lace corset under her jacket in the infamous scene where Lucious announces the date of his marriage to Anika to the family at a private dinner party. The shocked reactions from the other members when Cookie opened her jacket were genuine.
Money, Dear Boy: The series was originally supposed to be a feature film project until Whitney Cummings pointed out to Lee Daniels that his film projects brought him lots of critical acclaim but little financial success. She pointed out that a network television project could be much more lucrative, prompting Daniels to retool the concept into one that could be sold to one of the major networks.
Romance on the Set: Grace Gealey and Trai Byers first met each other on set. They later married in 2016, with Gealey then taking Byers' surname.
Throw It In!: Taraji P. Henson improvised her nickname for Anika "Boo Boo Kitty", and the writers ran with it.
Troubled Production: Season 5 was thrust into a horrific conundrum after Jussie Smollett (Jamal) claimed in February 2019 that he had been attacked and nearly lynched by a pair of right-wing extremists. After a couple weeks of receiving sympathy over the incident, Chicago PD charged him with fabricating the entire incident over a pay dispute with the network; the two men who were brought in for questioning were actually a pair of Nigerian immigrants and former extras from the show who said Smollett paid them to pretend to attack him. The show's storylines were thrown into disarray as the writers looked for a way to put Jamal on the proverbial bus while the producers had to go on the record to state that Jamal wasn't the Tonight, Someone Dies victim the season had been building up to. This would affect the rest of the series, as the sixth season ended up being the last one.
Production of the final season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic with two episodes left to be filmed. It was eventually decided that the episodes would not be produced and that "Home is on the Way", the final episode completed before production shut down, would serve as a de facto series finale.
Underage Casting: Taraji P. Henson is 44 years old, only 12 years older than the actors playing her sons.
Word of God: According to Lee Daniels, Frank Gathers was a cannibal.
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