It's hard to imagine anyone beside Terrence Howard starring alongside Taraji P. Henson on "Empire", but Wesley Snipes nearly landed the role of Dwight Walker (aka Lucious Lyons) instead. During the show's panel at the 2015 Winter TCA Press Tour, showrunner Lee Daniels revealed that he'd originally approached Snipes about the role, but Henson all but demanded that her "Hustle & Flow" costar Howard be cast instead. As Henson recounted during the panel, "I was like, 'Lee, this is an incredible project. I think Cookie is amazing. I would love to play her. If you can get Terrence, I'm all about it. If not, good luck with the project!'"