'Empire': Taraji P. Henson and the Producers Talk Cookie, Mariah, and Season 2 (Plus, Watch a New Trailer)

We’ve barely had time to pick our jaws up off the floor following Empire’s bombshell season finale, but it’s almost time to head back inside the Lyons’ den: Fox’s freshman sensation returns for Season 2 next month, and star Taraji P. Henson and executive producers Lee Daniels, Brian Grazer, and Ilene Chaiken joined reporters at Fox’s summer press tour Thursday to offer a few drips (and drops) of what to expect.

Very few drips and drops, actually: Henson and the producers were tight-lipped about Season 2. In fact, when Henson started to describe shooting a scene from the season premiere, Daniels abruptly cut her off. But Chaiken did say that with her writing staff heading into their sophomore year, “We want to continue to make the audience gasp and laugh and scream and cry.”

Lucky for us, Fox also dropped a new Season 2 trailer, which gives us plenty to chew on, including glimpses of Marisa Tomei as a billionaire businesswoman and Chris Rock (!) as a fellow inmate of Lucious’s. We see Andre, presumably back on his meds, telling the Empire board that “the first order of business is removing Lucious Lyon as CEO.” Plus, Lucious gets all Olivia Pope on us, telling Jamal that Andre “needs to be… handled.”

Watch the new Season 2 trailer for Empire right here:

Even though they wouldn’t say much about Season 2, Henson and the Empire producers still gave us plenty of quotable moments. Here are the highlights:

* When freshly minted Emmy nominee Henson was asked how much of her personality goes into Cookie, she replied: “80 percent is Cookie, and maybe 20 percent is Taraji. I’m not as bold as she is. I need to be politically correct in what I say.” Don’t feel bad, Taraji; none of us are as bold as Cookie is.

Video: Emmys: ‘Empire’ Co-Creator Danny Strong on Cookie’s Catfight and Jamal’s Coming-Out Party

* Daniels confirmed the news that Mariah Carey will be making an appearance in Season 2, but he didn’t have any details on her character: “I don’t really know the particulars.” Grazer added that “we’re just trying to find out the scheduling.”

* Why did Lucious get diagnosed with ALS in the Empire pilot, only to have it be revealed as a misdiagnosis later? Daniels says it was a way to keep star Terrence Howard in check: “I said he had ALS, because if he misbehaved… you know what I mean? But we love him, so we had to keep him.” (He was joking. We think.)

* The frantic storytelling pace of Season 1 would seem to be hard to sustain, and Daniels agrees, saying, “That was a question we talked about in the writers’ room… We’d like to bring it back a bit. Just a little bit.” (So, just 10 OMG moments per episode, instead of 12?)

* Henson admits she acts like a mom to the actors playing her sons, even when the cameras stop rolling. “I just had a conversation with Yazz [Bryshere Gray, who plays Hakeem] about saving your money, not believing your own hype,” she says. “I’m constantly checking in with them.”

* Does Daniels have anything to say to Sophia Eggleston, who has filed a $300 million lawsuit against Daniels, claiming she’s the real-life Cookie? His response, in full: “Bye, Felicia.” OK, then!

* After a 12-episode first season, Empire expands to 18 episodes in Season 2 — which Daniels calls “terrifying.” But Chaiken points out that Fox is splitting the season into two halves (10 in the fall, 8 in the spring) and reassures us, “Nothing is different. We’re able to devote as much time and effort to each episode as we did last season.”

* Daniels famously exploded on Instagram when Empire was snubbed by the Emmys in the drama series category, but he’s mellowed since. He says he spoke to the cast afterwards and told them, “'We are lucky to be employed,’ and in a show I enjoy going to work to. So I am honored to just go to work.”

* Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey are some of the big names Daniels was reportedly pursuing for an Empire guest appearance, but he says he doesn’t want to distract from the show’s central focus: “The more stars I put on this show, the more it takes away from the family. Family is what the story is about.”

* Empire is such a huge hit, it’s only natural to start thinking “spinoff” — and Daniels admits he’s already started thinking about it. “I think there’s going to be a spinoff of Empire, without question. There’s so much ripe story. We’ve talked about it in the writers’ room already.” So don’t be surprised if these Lyons turn out to have nine lives… at least.

Season 2 of Empire premieres Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. on Fox.