Empire's Taraji P. Henson talks the new Lucious: He's sweet this season!

Taraji P. Henson has become accustomed to Lucious’ (Terrence Howard) inconsistent behavior over three seasons of Empire — but she’s pleasantly surprised to see a character shift in the upcoming new season.

“Lucious is actually kind of sweet,” she told EW. “He’s very nice — what a difference,” she joked, immediately shooting a condescending look in Howard’s direction after.

Henson wasn’t the only member of the Empire cast to compliment the apparent personality shift from Lucious. Jussie Smollett (Jamal) chimed in with a few kind words about his TV dad as well.

“We’ve seen situations like this before where Lucious has started to make amends for the things that he’s done. But usually, they’ve had it attached to something that he needed,” he says. “This time, we’re seeing a genuine side of him and it’s all about those shades of gray.”

Watch the video above for more from Henson, Smollett, and Howard. Season 4 of Empire premieres Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.