The final season of "Power Book II: Ghost" has fans on the edge of their seats eagerly awaiting the unfolding drama. STARZ is releasing the season in two halves, with the first five episodes dropping before summer hits its peak and the final five episodes slated for release this fall.
In a battle for street supremacy, Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and Brayden (Gianni Paolo) are left to fend for themselves after their allies turned on them last season. With a daring new scheme disguised as an underground party, the duo must tread carefully, as they are now prime targets. Brayden's exile from his family propels him into a new, dangerous path, straining his bond with Tariq and testing their friendship in unprecedented ways.
But it’s not just about Tariq and Brayden this season. The Tejadas are fractured after a shocking revelation splits the family. Monet (Mary J. Blige) begins to shift from her kingpin boss mindset to embrace the role her children have longed for: being their mother. As Monet and her kids work to correct their past mistakes and reunite, outside forces complicate their lives, especially with Diana (LaToya Tonodeo) discovering she’s pregnant with Tariq’s baby.
REVOLT caught up with cast members Tonodeo, Lovell Adams-Gray, Golden Brooks, and Alix Lapri ahead of the summer break to discuss character breakdowns, what power means to their on-screen personas, and how they are embracing their own power in real life. Check out the exclusive interview below.
Effie is evolving into a more collaborative player. What aspects of her development do you find most intriguing, Alix? How do you navigate portraying this shift from a lone wolf to a more team-oriented figure?
Lapri: Yeah, it's funny that you say that because that is one of the biggest, most intriguing parts of her for me because she's always been a standalone, and now I think it does make her a little uncomfortable having to be told what to do and having to run around like a little “corner boy”... in her words. It’s been really interesting to navigate just dealing with the other strong personalities of these characters. We have Noma, we have Cane, we have Noma's right hand – there are so many strong personalities.
How has Dru and Diana’s relationship strengthened?
Tonodeo: I definitely feel like Diana leans on Dru a whole lot more [now] than she's ever done in any other season. She's strong, but I do believe that Diana truly admires Dru's strength and how committed he is. Like, once he says he wants to do something, he's going to try to see it all the way through and I believe that Diana leans on that, which is what you see. She's like, she wants to back out, but her brother is like, “No.” So, it's like, I'm gonna do this because if he can, I can too.
Adams-Gray: Our relationship has always been... You know, we got [called] Bobby and Whitney and all that. So, you know, we've been able to lock in on each other deeper and deeper as the show's going on, and now we are bedfellows in this situation. So, we're the only ones who understand what's going on, on a ground level. So, it's like we have to lean on each other even more this time. Dru is always thinking that Diana is very intelligent and very resourceful. He can't do it all by himself.
This season gets crazy, but we see that no matter what, family is always first for the Tejadas. With everyone getting “a pass,” do you really think the truce is real?
Tonodeo: I think there will be situations, just like in real life, where you'll have to come together, so you'll have to make alliances with people you may or may not want to necessarily make an alliance with because it's just for the sake of survival.
Adams-Gray: I think it's all about sleeping with one eye open.
Diana has finally made it to college, but now she's juggling being pregnant with Tariq's baby too. LaToya, didn’t Diana also have a relationship with Salim? How does she know it’s not his child?
Tonodeo: So, she definitely had relations with Salim, but she also had them with Tariq as well. I would just say she definitely knows who the baby father is – she’s 100 percent.
Lovell, we want to commend you for your dynamic portrayal of a queer person who is strong, multidimensional, and can thug it out like the other guys. How do you think Dru will influence future queer roles and representation? What inspiration did you pull from?
Adams-Gray: A lot of inspiration I got was from people in my life who I love and who aren't singularly dimensional. They're very multifaceted, multidimensional people and as an actor, I always want to bring my world into my work -- my life, my perspective, and what I've observed around me. I think I was very fortunate and very grateful to be able to execute that in the last four seasons. I think there will be a better and bigger demand for more [queer] roles that are more dynamic and multifaceted and not just, you know, it's being tacked on as a side story.
I think about the movie with Billy Eichner in the film, Bros, where it was just like, the dynamics were so diverse and multifaceted. It was all white folk, but still, it was something... That was a big platform I found, and I definitely think we'll see more of that. Even in “P-Valley”... You know, you have J. Alphonse Nicholson [who] played a wonderful queer character, and I think, like, the more we understand nuance, the more we understand each other, the more we understand ourselves. I believe we'll be able to go deeper into these stories.
Cane and Dru's relationship has become extremely volatile, with tensions high enough that it seemed they might kill each other. How does their power struggle evolve in the final season?
Adams-Gray: I think, you know, there's always been this brewing of a Cain and Abel-like relationship, and as Black people, I feel like we always ask ourselves, “What can we learn from stories that have come before, and how do we perfect those? How can we be better?” I hope that going forward... as a viewer, as a fan, this Cain and Abel dynamic can evolve in a way we haven't seen before.
Everyone in the series is fighting for some form of power. Which kinds are your characters striving for? On a personal level, how has your relationship with power evolved since the start of the series?
Tonodeo: I would definitely say Diana's still fighting for real independence and, like, strength in standing alone and not always having to lean on family because, like I said before, family is her strength and her weakness. As for owning power in my real life, it's just being able to know that I can speak up and speak out without always feeling like, “Oh, am I going to offend somebody?”
Adams-Gray: Dru wants individuality. He's been so involved in the family and is the middle child. So, power to him looks like being able to stand on his own as an individual, to carve out his own path, understand that he no longer needs to follow in the footsteps of people that are greater and before him, but carve out his own path and see where that takes him.
As for myself, the way I fight for power, I think, is through education and to educate myself on things. I like to always put myself in the position of being able to be a student and constantly learning and reminding myself that I haven't learned all the things I need to learn about a specific subject. I have to always go back to the beginning, even when I feel like my ego shows up and says, “Nah, you don't need to know all that.” These were great questions, Ty.
Alix, what aspects of your journey, from portraying 50 Cent’s daughter in Den of Thieves to embodying the dynamic Effie, have challenged you as an actress? How have these experiences with 50 Cent shaped your approach to your craft?
Lapri: He is just the most amazing person to work under for acting. I remember so many little pieces of advice that I take everywhere with me. I remember for the episode in season six of “Power” that he directed, he told me, just throw the lines away. It sounds small, but it's actually huge because to approach acting is to over and underthink, right? You have to be intentional, but you can't be in your head, and you have to be out of your body. Just down to the acting but even just in everyday life and in business, sitting around him for 30 minutes, you will learn a million dollars' worth of game.
Golden, what has it been like to share the screen with Mary J. Blige as she finds her footing in acting, especially given your status as a veteran in the industry?
Brooks: That’s a great question. Mary J. Blige is a triple threat because she can sing, act, and dance. She’s a trifecta in so many things. She’s a masterclass to me. She takes what she does so seriously, and I have so much respect for her. I’ve been doing this but no matter where you are in your career, if you think you’ve hit that plateau and [there’s] nothing else you can learn, you’ve stopped growing as an artist. I look at Mary and she’s so dedicated. I’ve learned so much from watching her.
Alix, who would you say is Effie’s strongest ally this season?
Lapri: She has a lot of them, but I think Cane – it's debatable who's the strongest, but I think Cane is definitely a nice ally because they have each other's backs, and regardless of all the messiness that's going on, they do have a strong connection, and I don't think they want to see anything happen to each other.
Delve into the internal conflicts Effie grapples with as she navigates between the streets and pursuing a better life. How does this hinder or empower her character's growth and journey?
Lapri: That endgame is stronger than ever before. She wants to graduate, and become an engineer, and become her own woman, and become powerful and strong and independent. I think this is her driving force this season more than any. She is ready to get out of the game, and she's going to do whatever she needs to by any means necessary, even if that means laying low for a little bit. Of course, like we've been saying, she does have some obstacles in the way, and that is, you know, people that are pulling on her heartstrings a little bit.
How do you perceive Effie's struggle to balance her relationships with Tariq and Cane? What do you think this conflict signifies for her character arc?
Lapri: Well, Effie and Tariq have a long history together and have a lot of love. I think this is similar to, like, your first real long relationship. It's like even though it ended, were you guys really supposed to be together? Maybe not, but, man, you always have something in your heart for them, and I think that's kind of what they have. As far as Cane, they do have a really nice connection. She's able to be soft and feminine with him and as feminine as she can be. I think that that's something that's really special, too. I think this is definitely very conflicting for her because as we've seen in the first episode, she wants to protect Tariq. Like, she doesn't want to see him die, but she also really likes Cane. So how this is gonna play out is anybody's guess.
From a viewer’s standpoint, I don’t know who I would want her to end up with (laughs). Okay, so from the viewers’ and from Effie's point of view, I think it was always supposed to be Tariq but from my point of view, I do think it was always supposed to be her and Cane because they make a lot of sense to me. We're going to have to see what the writers felt (laughs).
Who's a Black artist that you feel should be on everyone’s playlist and why?
Lapri: Lucky Daye is someone that should be on everyone’s list. He has a song called “Misunderstood,” and I think that's a nice song for Effie. We don't have to be all put together – it's misunderstood.