As 'Empire' Returns, Jussie Smollett Warns, 'No One Is Safe...Except Cookie!'

— -- Viewers have been waiting since early December for a new episode of "Empire" and this week, the top-rated hip-hop drama finally returns.

Jussie Smollett, who plays Jamal Lyon, says that "Empire" fans maybe shocked to find out that some characters -- well, nearly all of them -- are expendable.

“They’re gonna be surprised that honestly, no one -- you know, except Cookie, she’s safe -- but no one, truly no one is safe on this show,” he told ABC News.

The Lee Daniels-created primetime soap opera has already seen the brutal end of characters played by Malik Yoba, DeRay Davis and Chris Rock.

“So without giving away too much, some things are gonna happen, some people gonna happen and it’s not gonna necessarily always be a good thing,” he added. “But it’s fun, and it’s rooted in the family this time around.”

As the openly gay middle son of bigoted hip-hop mogul Lucious Lyon and his estranged ex-wife Cookie Lyon, Smollet’s Jamal in often involved in major plot twists, which are usually confidential. When ABC News asked him about rumors that Jamal will have a down-low rapper as a lover this season, Smollett was taken aback, but played it safe.

“I don’t know. I know nothing! And I will keep my job for now,” he said with a laugh.

But he did offer some insight about Jamal’s musical path.

“In the first part of the second season we saw him doing music…that was a little bit more glitzy and shinier and a very pop," he said. "So now we’re going back to the center of who Jamal is, which I’m excited about.”

Just a little more than a year since its debut, "Empire" has had a revolving door of stars making cameos, including Patti LaBelle, Marisa Tomei, Ne-Yo, Reverend Al Sharpton, Alicia Keys, Raven Symone, Vivica A. Fox and Pitbull, among others. But who would Smollet really love to see appear on the show?

“Jurnee Smollet,” he joked, referring to his older sister, an acclaimed actress herself. “I would, I can’t lie … I did two episodes actually of Underground, her show. So she need[s] to come and return the favor!"

"This ain’t no one situation where I do it all for you, Jurnee, and you don’t do it for me!" he continued. "What’s up?”