Ta'Rhonda Jones

Rapper and actress Ta'Rhonda Jones made an instant impression in her very first role as Cookie's brutally honest assistant Porsha in hip-hop soap opera "Empire" (Fox, 2015-). Born in Chicago, IL, Jones began rapping in seventh grade and went onto support the likes of Bobby Valentino, Jody Breeze and Jim Jones while also working as the assistant director of nutritional services at a nursing home. Jones' life changed when she was invited to audition for what she thought was a deal with Terrence Howard's record label, but was in fact for the role of Tiana Brown in Lee Daniels' buzzworthy hip-hop drama "Empire" (Fox, 2015-). The part eventually went to Serayah McNeill, but Jones impressed the casting team so much that she was offered the role of Taraji P. Henson's no-nonsense assistant Porsha Taylor instead. Jones, who often improvised her character's funniest lines, regularly stole the show from her more experienced castmates and proved to be so popular that she was upgraded to series regular in the second season. Jones then landed her second role when she played Sherri Gifford on an episode of crime procedural "Chicago PD" (NBC, 2014-), and revived her rap career with several tracks released under the guise of Lady Heroine.