In her over 40-year-long profession, Demi Moore has starred in quite a few profitable and critically acclaimed movies, together with G.I. Jane and A Few Good Males. Most just lately, she’s garnered much-deserved reward for her function in The Substance. Whereas she’s recognized for her glorious movie work, Moore has additionally dabbled in TV, starring in an episode of Will & Grace and most just lately within the Taylor Sheridan collection Landman. Nonetheless, her recurring presence within the hit Fox collection Empire as Nurse Claudia remains to be her most dynamic and sophisticated TV function to this point, showcasing Moore’s skills and flexibility as she goes toe-to-toe with the highly effective Lyon household.
Who Does Demi Moore Play in ‘Empire’?
Audiences are launched to Nurse Claudia within the remaining moments of the Season 3 finale, “Toil & Bother, Half 2.” After a automotive bomb leaves Lucious (Terrence Howard) in a coma, Claudia is employed to make use of her unorthodox strategies to assist him recuperate quicker. At first, Claudia seems clever and delicate however often earns a side-eye from Lucious’ spouse, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) for the best way she touches the comatose Lucious. Miraculously, her strategies awaken him, just for the Lyon household to be taught that Lucious is affected by amnesia, a traditional cleaning soap opera trope that propels the story into the following season.
Within the early episodes of Season 4, Claudia is consistently by Lucious’s aspect, serving to him modify to a prosthetic and regain his reminiscences. Whereas Moore’s scenes with Howard are highly effective, her tense interactions with Henson actually stand out. Cookie, attempting to revive her relationship with Lucious whereas managing the enterprise and household, is understandably pissed off by Claudia, whose calm professionalism hides deeper, extra unsettling motives that Cookie sees proper by means of. Henson’s powerhouse efficiency as Cookie has been rightly praised, and Moore holds her personal reverse her, as the 2 nice actors play characters with their very own private traumas. Moore masterfully blends nurturing care with underlying rigidity, making a dynamic and compelling triangle between Claudia, Cookie, and Lucious.
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Claudia’s Unorthodox Strategies Flip Into Obsession in ‘Empire’ Season 4
In Season 4, Episode 5, Lucious begins experiencing synesthesia, seeing colours when he hears music. Throughout a therapeutic portray session, his reminiscences come flooding again, and he confuses Claudia for Cookie, calling her his muse and saying that he loves her. It is also a turning level for Claudia, who has clearly fallen in love with Lucious whereas nursing him again to well being. Nonetheless, when Lucious tells her that there is been a misunderstanding, Claudia’s world comes crashing down. Moore’s voice trembles and her eyes properly with tears as she transitions from involved nurse to jilted lover. Lucious kicks Claudia out, nevertheless it’s clear this may not be the final time we see her.
Claudia’s remaining look in “Birds within the Cage” is the standout in Moore’s arc. In a Distress–like twist, she kidnaps Lucious and Cookie, holding them captive in a distant cabin. The scenes are a efficiency masterclass from Moore, Howard and Henson, the place the strain and thrills carry a whole act. Claudia goals to persuade Lucious to return to being “Dwight” and that what he has with Cookie is not love, however one thing evil and poisonous. Surprisingly, her unconventional strategies truly pressure Cookie and Lucious into uncomfortable conversations that they’ve by no means had earlier than about their previous. Removed from dividing the couple, it unites them, and after an intense axe-wielding sequence, Claudia is taken down and arrested.
In lesser arms, this function might have ended up being very one-dimensional. Although there are many campy moments, Moore introduced depth to Claudia, crafting a personality that’s each chilling and sympathetic. Her addition to an already stellar solid was one in all Season 4’s highlights, and she or he clearly relished taking part in such a posh, wild function. Though she didn’t share any screentime together with her daughter, Rumer Willis, who additionally appeared in Season 4, she nonetheless acquired to behave reverse a few of the present’s finest solid members, making Claudia one in all Empire‘s most memorable characters.
All seasons of Empire can be found to stream on Hulu.
