CHICAGO -- When Empire protagonist Lucious Lyon meets with his three sons in his plush New York mansion, or when Lyon's ex-wife, Cookie, holds court with the hip-hop mogul in his gleaming Manhattan office, the main focus is on the implausible yet entertaining plot and the scenery-chewing performances from Terrence Howard's Lucious and Taraji P. Henson's Cookie.
But the environment that surrounds the actors in the hit Fox drama is almost as flamboyant as the actors, from the paintings by New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley in the Lyon mansion to the grand piano in Lucious' office designed by Warren Shadd, the nation's only black piano manufacturer.
One woman who shares responsibility for creating this look is Caroline Perzan, the set decorator for Empire, now in its second season.
Perzan, 46, was born in suburban Chicago and went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a Hollywood veteran who has spent 25 years working primarily as an assistant set decorator or set decorating buyer on shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Breaking Bad, Hawaii Five-0 and Knight Rider.
But she welcomed the chance to move back home for Empire, which, despite being set in New York, is almost entirely shot in Chicago.
"I originally came back to Chicago to work on [the Superman reboot] Man of Steel and stayed here when Empire launched," said Perzan, who lives in the city with her 13-year-old son. "It's allowed me as a single mom to leave L.A. and come back to my roots. It was a dream come true to bring my child back to raise him here."
On Empire Perzan works closely with show co-creator Lee Daniels, executive producer/showrunner Ilene Chaiken and the various directors and production designers who work on the show to develop the overall look on standing sets, which occupy four soundstages at Cinespace, as well as other locations where Empire shoots.
A key component of this look is the art that graces many of the sets. Original works from well-known artists such as Wiley, Walter Lobyn Hamilton and Mickalene Thomas are prominently displayed at Lyon's mansion, office and other standing sets.
"We were conscious about using these artists from the start of Season 1, when we created Lucious' office -- we knew that we had to have contemporary art in there," Perzan said. "That was all Lee's influence, because of his passion for art. When he directs some of the Empire episodes, he'll start a shot focusing on a piece of art, then pan to an actor. It's rare for a TV director to do this."
But show colleagues credit Perzan for taking Daniels' ideas and running with them.
"The world of Lucious Lyon is one of art and extravagance and taste, some good and some bad," Chaiken said. "It's an over-the-top world, which Caroline totally understands. She gets Lee's sensibilities and understands how we care about authenticity and provenance."
"I gave Caroline a lot of creative say," added Cece Destefano, production designer for the first season of Empire. "I would usually do research on a script, show her the research and let her run with it. If she says, 'I found this great fabric or great piece of furniture or great piece of art that will add to the set,' then I'll defer to her, because she has a great eye."
Perzan talks about her duties:
Q: What's the role of a set decorator?
A: A set decorator is someone who fills everything inside and outside the set, except the walls and the architecture. The set decoration team does the drapery, the carpets, artwork, lighting, books -- you name it.
Oftentimes, we don't build the set; we'll go to a location and completely alter the location. We'll go into a coffeehouse and it might not have the right look. So we'll clean it out and bring in our own pieces.
But my favorite sets are the permanent sets, like Lucious' mansion. It's one of my favorite sets because of the art on the walls. The art is inspired by our [co-]creator, Lee Daniels, and his love of art. I'll present to Lee many pieces of art, and we'd determine what needs to be in the room. We've changed a few pieces of art from Season 1 to Season 2, and we build on the existing sets. As the shows become mature and we get more money for the sets, we add to them.
Q: What was your favorite location shoot on Empire?
A: I loved shooting at the Tribune Tower. We were there during Season 1 and shot in [former Tribune publisher] Col. Robert R. McCormick's office on the 24th floor. We used it for the office of Beretti [a rival record industry mogul to Lucious Lyon, played by Judd Nelson]. We changed everything in the room. We took out a conference table and brought all of Beretti's world into there. We weren't allowed to hammer a single nail next to the Colonel's fireplace, so we hung 30 gold and platinum albums, since [Beretti's] supposed to be a big music producer. We made this amazing rig of cable and hung each album so they were perfectly aligned.
Style on 12/01/2015