Star is an American musical drama television series created by Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It revolves around three talented young singers who navigate the music business on their road to success and stars Jude Demorest, Brittany O'Grady and Ryan Destiny. The series, which is set in Atlanta, consists of original music, along with musical fantasy sequences, as dreams of the future. Queen Latifah, Benjamin Bratt, Amiyah Scott and Quincy Brown co-star.
The series premiered on December 14, 2016. With the premiere of the series, Amiyah Scott became the third openly transgender person to play a trans major character in a scripted television drama series in America, after Laverne Cox on Orange Is the New Black and Jamie Clayton on Sense8.
Star is a joint production between Lee Daniels Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. On February 22, 2017, Fox renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on September 27, 2017, and crossed over with other Fox series Empire.
On May 10, 2018, Fox renewed the series for a third season. Season 3 premiered on September 26, 2018, and aired on Fox Wednesdays at 9:00 PM.
On May 10, 2019, Fox cancelled the series after three seasons.
Plot Star Davis, an 18-year-old orphan, leaves her foster home to save her younger sister Simone Davis, who Star has been separated from since their mother's death, from physical and sexual abuse at her foster home. While escaping the tragedy, Star finds muse in a singer/songwriter, Alexandra Crane, a New York resident who lives in her celebrity father's shadow. Star offers Alex a proposal to escape and leave town with them to become a singing group. They move to Atlanta, Georgia and seek refuge in a surrogate godmother, Carlotta Brown, who is a close friend and singing partner of Star and Simone's mother. Carlotta made a promise to look after the girls after their mother's death and would protect them. She persuades the girls to work to make ends meet and isn't enthusiastic about the girls chasing their dreams; instead, she wants them to attend and be active in church. Finding odds to make their endeavors come true, they struggled to get a record deal and found hope in a music producer, Jahil Rivera, who took a chance on them. Within months, developing themselves as rising new artists in Atlanta, gaining the name of the group "Big Trouble", they face new troubles in their relationships with each other and with their pasts coming back to haunt them. However, they escape the many problems of their past and begin to succeed in gaining recognition. 'Big Trouble' soon won notable competitions, which led to a major record deal. The girls eventually sign with a record label, Midtown Sound, as a favor from The Lyon Family of Empire Entertainment and soon begin their journey as professional R&B/Pop artists TAKE 3. Subsequently, they learn that the music industry is hard to navigate as they sacrifice a lot to stay on top and relevant while they tour with the labels' other artist and find themselves at constant war with each other take 3 end up getting really big.
Cast and characters
Main Jude Demorest as Star Davis: A tough 18-year-old who spent her childhood in and out of foster homes after the death of her mother Mary. Wanting to pursue a career in music, she forms a girl group, Take 3 (formerly Big Trouble), with her half-sister Simone and friend Alex whom she met online. Though she has a lot of talent, her egotistical nature tends to bother others. At the start of the third season, she is pursuing a career as a solo artist, and dealing with the consequences of an unexpected pregnancy. In the third season mid-finale, Star gave birth to a son named Davis. Brittany O'Grady as Simone Davis-Rivera: Star's biracial 17-year-old half-sister. She is rescued by Star from the abusive foster home in which she was placed five years before. While supportive of her sister's ambitions, Simone has dreams of her own, and will do whatever it takes to achieve them. In Season 2, she ends up in state custody for abusing marijuana. She is then liberated from juvie by Ayanna and ends up marrying Angel in a bid to avoid being recommitted. When he is deported to the Dominican Republic, she leaves Atlanta to be with him. Ryan Destiny as Alexandra "Alex" Crane Jones: A wealthy 21-year-old who grew up in New York and is Star's best friend. She is looking to step out of the shadows of her famous father and make it on her own and becomes increasingly involved in political advocacy through her boyfriend Derek. However, she struggles to escape her toxic relationship with her parents, especially her alcoholic mother Rose. This leads her to slowly separate herself from the other girls in order to make a name outside of Take 3, while also dealing with the psychological aftereffects of surviving a plane crash. She and Derek later marry in the season 3 finale. Amiyah Scott as Cotton Brown: Carlotta's transgender daughter. She works at her mother's salon and helps the girls kickstart their career. She also has a troubled relationship with Carlotta, as the latter has not accepted her daughter's transition, and is not understanding or fully supportive of the difficulties she faces as a trans woman, although she slowly comes around. After stealing money from her boyfriend Elliot, Cotton is sent to prison, but eventually gets released. She now works with Miss Bruce to manage her mother's salon. Quincy Brown as Derek Jones: Alex's husband who lives next door to the girls. He is a civil rights activist affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement and is committed to civil disobedience. After a car accident leaves him paralyzed from the waist down, their relationship becomes strained. Derek and Alex break up after she cheats on him with Noah Brooks. He then pursues a relationship with his physical therapist. However, Derek and Alex eventually get back together and marry in the season 3 finale. Benjamin Bratt as Jahil Rivera (seasons 1–2; guest season 3): A talent manager who believes Take 3 is his ticket back to the top. However, he is hobbled by both a cocaine addiction and money problems. In Season 2, it is revealed that he faked his death with the help of Carlotta to avoid being framed for Hunter's murder. He ends up forming a new duo with his nephew Angel to compete with Take 3. In the mid-season 2 finale, Angel fires him as manager and he goes on a drug-fueled bender before briefly slipping into a coma. He is later shot in a drive-by shooting while shielding Andy and dies in season 2. Queen Latifah as Carlotta Renee Brown: The owner of an Atlanta beauty salon, who worked with Mary Davis in the R&B duo, Mixed Harmony back in the 1990s. She becomes a surrogate mother to the three girls, even though she doesn't approve of their musical dreams. At the end of Season 1, she takes over as manager from Jahil. Her attempts to make Take 3 a success prove largely ineffective as the girls struggle with their own problems, and in the mid-season 2 finale, her salon is burned down. In the episode "Mrs. Rivera," it is revealed that Carlotta and Jahil were secretly married. She is eventually promoted to a senior position within Midtown by Ayanna, and eventually gets named as head of newly formed Gravity Records by Mateo. Miss Lawrence as Miss Bruce (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1): A gay and genderfluid hairdresser who works at Carlotta's salon, taking over as owner when Carlotta commits to managing Take 3. Luke James as Noah Brooks (seasons 2–3): A formerly top-selling R&B artist at Midtown Sound looking to make a much-needed comeback after his career collapsed due to alcoholism. He is a charming, sweet talker with an ambitious streak, and strikes up a relationship with Alex, Star and Gigi, at first for promotion, but it gradually evolves into an affair. By the third season, he seems to have largely conquered his addictions after a suicide attempt and is working to take more control over his career. In the mid-season finale, it is revealed he is the father of Star's baby son, Davis. Michael Michele as Ayanna Floyd (season 2): The unsympathetic president and CEO of Midtown Sound, the record label that signed Take 3. She forms a maternal bond with Simone, even becoming her legal guardian, but also enables her to maintain her addiction to prescription drugs. At the mid-season 2 finale, she is disgraced and removed as president of Midtown after being caught trying to buy the label out from under her father. She is later restored to her former position after getting him fired for sexual harassment of a Midtown artist. However, she then becomes pregnant with Jahil's child, and decides to sell Midtown to Mateo Ferrara. Stephen Dorff as Brody Dean (season 2): Star's long lost biological father who re-emerges as the girls get their first taste of fame but turns out to have an agenda concerning Hunter's death. Upon discovering the abuse Hunter inflicted on Star, however, he leaves town after murdering Hunter's mother, Arlene. He is electrocuted to death by Arlene's twin sister, Charlene in revenge. Lance Gross as Maurice Jetter (season 3; recurring season 2): A&R at Midtown Records. He helps Carlotta navigate the treacherous currents of the company and his boss, Ayanna, but their relationship is destroyed when she catches him kissing his old girlfriend, Natalie. Maurice then sets his sights on persuading Star to leave Take 3 for a shot at a solo career. He later leaves Midtown when Ayanna sells the company and launches his own label with Cassie. Matthew Noszka as Jackson Ellis (season 3; recurring season 2): An aspiring musician who became involved romantically with Star. It was originally believed that he was the father of her baby, but later turned out to be Noah. Brandy as Cassandra Augustine "Cassie" Brown (season 3; recurring season 2): Carlotta's younger sister, who is deeply involved in organized crime. She and Andy strike up a relationship, but after he steals money from her, she tries to have him murdered, only to kill Jahil by accident. Andy later reveals her involvement to Carlotta out of guilt after accidentally shooting Ayanna while trying to forge a check in her name. After arguing with Carlotta, Cassie forms a partnership with Maurice to start their own competing label. William Levy as Mateo Ferrera (season 3): A wealthy Miami media mogul who buys Midtown Sound from Ayanna and renames it Gravity Media, with plans to shut down the company's music division and turn it into a fashion-and-gossip brand.
Recurring Evan Ross as Angel Rivera, Jahil's nephew who helps him record new music. In turn, Jahil gets him to form a singing duo with Andy. After realizing that his uncle is more concerned with his interests than theirs, however, he fires him as their manager. He then learns that his father, Jahil's brother, is not his biological dad, and that he is an undocumented immigrant. After his attempt to get DACA protection is denied, he is arrested at Jahil's funeral and sentenced to deportation. He marries Simone in season 2 to prevent her from going back to juvie and falls in love with her. (seasons 2-3) Caroline Vreeland as Mary Davis, Star and Simone's mother who died of a drug overdose, which turns out to have been partially caused by Star. Mary was a member of the R&B duo Mixed Harmony with Carlotta in the 1990s. Juanita Jennings as Ruby Jones, Derek's grandmother and Carlotta's neighbor who hates Star and eventually comes around. She is later killed in the Season 3 finale. Naomi Campbell as Rose Spencer-Crane, Alexandra's mother, who struggles with alcoholism and a failed marriage with Alex's father Roland. (seasons 1-2)