Raven Symone Makes Surprising Return To TV: Actress Talks About ‘Empire’

Raven Symone is back on the small screen, surprising viewers of Empire with her first appearance on the show earlier this week. The Urban Daily shared more about Raven’s appearance on the new Fox series and she will continue to shock audiences with her character when she returns to the series during Empire Episode 10.

Raven Symone started her acting career as Olivia on The Cosby Show. She is playing a character named Olivia on Empire, and she showed on Jamal’s doorstep with a huge surprise. Symone spoke about her character’s arrival on the series with Electronic Urban Report.

“She used to be Jamal’s backup singer. There’s a lot of stuff going on — we definitely have a very odd history together. She was a part of his life for a few years for — how do I say this? — contractual and covering-up reasons. I don’t really know how much I want to tell you because her story does get told in the next episode, along with more interesting details that I think only Cookie and Jamal will be able to explain better than I can.”

At the end of the last episode, Olivia showed up with a little girl that appears to be Jamal’s daughter. Jamal, who is played by Jussie Smollett, is gay, and he has known of his sexuality since childhood. The fact that he had a daughter with a woman shocked Empire fans.

Raven knew all about Olivia’s backstory and her connection to Jamal when she started filming her appearance, and she has teased that Olivia will continue to “shock” fans. Olivia also has a connection to Lucious, who is played by Terrence Howard. She would not reveal that connection, but she did tease that fans will see just how far Lucious will go to change his son. He is not willing to accept that his son is gay.

Symone did share more of her thoughts about society and the fact that some feel as if they need to hide their sexuality.

“I wasn’t impressed or surprised because we live in a culture where people have to hide who they truly love from the beginning. You’ll see a man married to a woman or a woman married to a man, but after 15, 25, or 30 years get divorced and then say, ‘I’m gay.’ It’s just because of the hatred that comes in our society; people don’t understand. So, it didn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is the outcome of the situation at the end of the next episode you see me in. But him being with a woman or having a kid, in that sense, doesn’t surprise me at all. It happens every day.”

Raven Symone is far from new to television. She calls herself retired, but she knew this role was too good to pass up. She did not go out seeking this role, but she stopped by the set one day to visit some friend. After her visit, she was called back in to play this Empire role.

This series is not the only one she will appear in, either. According to Web Pro News, Raven revealed on her Facebook page earlier this month that she will appear in two episodes of K.C. Undercover. The appearance reunited her with a former Cosby Show co-star, Kadeem Hardison. Raven appeared on Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven for several seasons starting in 2003.

With her return to television, Raven has been in the spotlight more. In a recent interview shared by the Inquisitr, she revealed that she felt forced to tan because there are no acting roles for light colored girls.

What did you think of Raven Symone’s appearance on Empire? Are you excited to learn more about her character?

[Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images]