Naomi Campbell on Her 'Empire' Acting Gig: 'I'm Quiet on Set'

The supermodel, who plays Camilla on the drama, says she's professional on set: "I'm not looking for fame"

Credit : Chuck Hodes/FOX

After a three-month hiatus, Empire is back – and so is Naomi Campbell‘s character Camilla!

Though the exiled (and much older) lover of Empire scion Hakeem (Bryshere “Yazz” Gray) is set to take on a bigger role in upcoming episodes Campbell is coy when discussing Camilla’s arc in the upcoming season, telling PEOPLE: “Camilla’s taking her chance while she can.”

Admittedly, Campbell had no idea how big her role would become. “When Lee [Daniels] asked me to the do this show in the first season, no one knew what was going to happen,” she says. “I believe in anything that he does and so of course I’m there and I believed it was going to be successful. But you never know what the writers are going to come up with, you just never know.”

“I think Camilla’s quite consistent,” Campbell says of her on-air persona. “She’s got determination. And she’s not going to let anyone get in the way of getting what she wants. She’s very ambitious. But I think she’s ambitious in a very quiet way. She’s not loud about it, she does it sneakily and she surprises people. People don’t see her coming. Maybe that’s her reserved, English way.”

Like Camilla, Campbell says she lets her work speak for itself. “That’s how I’ve always been. I never discuss [my work]. You see it when it comes out,” she says. “For me, it’s like an unlucky charm until I see it I don’t believe it.”

In fact, “I’m very quiet on set because, for me, it’s a learning experience,” she says. “I don’t speak very much, I’m just focus on what I have to do and I’m very observant of key things. I’m taking in everything and I’m learning. That’s what I’m like when I model. Even when I model today after doing it for almost 30 years, I still am quiet, even when I’ve known the photographer for 30 years.”

Campbell also reveals that the whole vibe on set is “very professional” and that she’s benefited from the talent of her costars. “ Terrence Howard is so generous to work with,” she says. “It’s such a blessing to work with him because he’s such a great actor. The encouragement he gives me, when he tells me ‘You can push a bit more’ or ‘You did good on that take,” that, for me, is just like, ‘Oh my God, Terrence Howard is saying that to me?’ He’s such a great actor, so respected.”

So she doesn’t expect perfection as an actor just yet: “I’m not looking for fame,” she explains. “I’m already known so it’s really about me learning a new craft and trying to do the best I can. I’m learning each day.”

Empire returns Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

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