Jussie Smollett has returned to Hollywood following a string of legal issues over the last three and a half years, and he’s happy to be back in the studio.

Smollett spoke with ET on the red carpet at this year’s BET Awards, held on Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, and discussed his professional return as the director of the BET+ original film B-Boy Blues.

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While Smollett stated that he “never thought of myself as working my way back,” he conceded that being back on set and creating after his legal mess has been “wonderful.”

“This has always been the plan, to expand my empire, so to speak,” Smollett spoke about moving behind the camera to direct a production and collaborate with other performers. “To expand the level of what I want to do… to be able to usher in a new generation of artists and actors and these amazing talents.”

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B-Boy Blues is a cinematic adaptation of James Earl Hardy’s novel of the same name, starring Timothy Richardson, Ledisi, Brandee Evans, Heather B, Marquise Vilson, Jabari Redd, Broderick Hunter, and Thomas Mackie.

Smollett’s directorial debut comes three months after he was sentenced to 150 days in prison and 30 months of felony probation in March, after being indicted on five of the six counts of disorderly conduct on which he was charged.

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Smollett also offered a message for those who stood by him and supported him during his legal ordeal, during which he vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

“I tell them, with all my heart, just thank you,” Smollett revealed to ET. “They never waivered, they never straddled the fence, and for that I am forever grateful. I don’t take that lightly for a moment.”

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“My family, my friends, the true ones, if I never get to hug you in person, know that there’s a hug in my heart that I genuinely mean,” he concluded.

In addition to his term, the former Empire actor was sentenced to pay $120,106 in reparations to the City of Chicago and was fined $25,000 following his complaint of a hate crime in January 2019. Smollett has only began serving his 5-month term when he was released on bond from Cook County Jail while his legal team tries to overturn his conviction.