Lee Daniels has struck television gold again with his newest series airing on Fox, Star. Just knowing that it was a Lee Daniels’ project was enough to generate excitement of its release. Adding the star power of Queen Latifah and Benjamin Bratt made it one of most anticipated shows of the season. As teasers came out, Daniels’ fans were quick to compare it to another hit Empire. One look at the first episode of Star and one quickly understood that music and family were the only things the two shows had in common.

“It's (Star) not like Empire where they already started out making it and then they kind of rewind some parts about their past and everything,” said co-star Ryan Destiny, who plays Alexandra Crane on Star. “You see like the beginning of this story so it's cool.” Destiny added, “This show is about three girls and a whole bunch of other things, of course, but three girls trying to make it through the industry and trying to make it period. And it’s about family. And it’s a more, I think, raw twist on it. You really see the girls start from the bottom and just their whole families and their different stories throughout the whole thing.”

Set in Atlanta, GA, Star follows the lives of three girls – Star Davis (Jude Demorest), Simone Davis (Brittany O’Grady) and Alexandra Crane (Ryan Destiny) - on their journey to stardom. I like the fact that these girls’ journey is sort of old school as they use their connections and hustle to make it big and not technology. I believe the only technology they have use was Instagram to meet each other. After gelling, they dish out some killer performances using a strong set of pipes and moves to match. The show’s soundtrack is almost a character by itself. Headlines are also being made by one of the show’s costars, Amiyah Scott. Her television debut makes her the second openly trans person to play a major character in a scripted television drama series.

Destiny’s character aka Alex is one that has lived a privileged life because of her famous rock legend father Roland Crane (played by Lenny Kravitz). It has not been a smooth life as she also had to deal with the trouble her alcoholic mother, Rose Spencer-Crane (played by Naomi Campbell), brings to any situation. Alex is trying to leave the protected shelter of her parents to stand on her own feet and chase her dreams.

Having a famous father is probably the other thing Destiny has in common with her character. Destiny, whose legal last name is Irons, is the daughter Deron Irons of the former 90s R&B group Guesss. “We really do have different lives,” said Destiny in our one-on-one interview. Since Destiny’s own life is so different from that of her character’s life she uses a lot of her imagination to portray the role. A process that she thinks is fun. “I try to give her a little bit of me at times and I think that comes out as she unfolds throughout the story as she becomes more human and you see her walls fall,” explained Destiny.

Destiny shares a lot of on screen time with sexy Quincy Brown, her character’s love interest. I made sure to ask about their relationship just for our readers. With a laugh, Destiny said that her work relationship with Brown is always a popular question. “Quincy is great. We have become close now and we are friends. The relationship is fun and it makes it easy to work with a person like that.”

Besides growing a relationship with Brown, she has also grown one with Queen Latifah. Queen plays Carlotta Brown, the owner of an Atlanta beauty salon and surrogate mother to the girls in the group. I asked Destiny what advice she has learned about the industry from La as she calls her since Destiny has aspirations of being a big singer in the biz. “Her being her period is a lesson in itself,” said Destiny as she described the humble and genuine personality of the rapper turned actress. “I think I just learned from that. No matter how far you have come you can just be a person at the end of the day and just human and really connect with people regardless of where you are in life. And I think that is a huge thing I have learned from her,” commented Destiny.

Acting is not Destiny’s only talent. In fact, acting is her second talent with singing being her first. She was once was part of a girl group called Love Dollhouse that mutually disbanded just before she got the role on Star. The 22-year-old Detroit native has experience with songwriting as well and is working on her own music for an anticipated solo album. However, her focus right now is on Star so personal projects are taking a bit of a backseat.

Just like Destiny is focused on her career so is her character, Alexandra. In future episodes, Destiny said she looks forward to how her character will develop by becoming more human, continuing to be strong, and personal growth as an individual. Stay in tune with Ryan Destiny aka Alexandra Crane on Instagram.com/Ryan_Destiny.