PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 15: Naturi Naughton, Courtney Kemp, Omari Hardwick, Mark Canton, and Randall Emmett of ‘Power,’ winner of Outstanding Drama Series, pose in the press room for the 49th NAACP Image Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on January 15, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
“Power” Returns For Its Fifth Season July 1 On Starz!
The creator behind the hit show “Power” spoke about the development of mega-villain Dre Coleman (Rotimi Akinosho), the show’s role in representing people of color on TV and prequel talks ahead of the show’s season premiere next month.
Courtney Kemp said Ghost’s protégé Dre is a like a newer version of the show’s main character: a blend of both the ruthlessness of Kanan (50 Cent) and the charming criminality of James St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick). But nonetheless, the backstabbing Dre still isn’t quite ready to be a criminal boss yet, and viewers see him fumble at times.
“Dre has learned enough from Ghost to try to put some pieces together on how you have to plan and plot, but he’s not good at lying to multiple people at once and not look like he’s lying,” Kemp said. “He’s hustling a little bit. You could feel the sweat. You could feel the effort. So while he’s a mega-villain because he does bad stuff, that’s what you really see with Dre, and that’s one of the reasons why the fans who are like, ‘Kill him!’ But Dre’s smart enough not to get killed…Also, Dre aligns himself with the right people. You can’t just walk up on Dre and shoot him.”
It makes for some spine-tingling storytelling, and Kemp said it’s part of her larger plan show African-Americans in a more multifaceted way. After growing up watching African-Americans develop on television from one extreme – criminal suspects – to another – high achievers – one of her aims with “Power” is to portray people of color as everything in between, and in a multi-faceted way.
“My goal is that we (as African-Americans) can be anything and everything,” Kemp said.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – MAY 03: Courtney Kemp Agboh and 50 Cent attend STARZ “POWER” FYC Event at The Jeremy Hotel on May 3, 2018 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for STARZ)
However, the veteran television content creator stopped short of greenlighting a “Power” prequel, that essentially would show Kanan, Ghost and Tommy as teens hustling, sexing and killing on the streets of Queens, New York.
“I’m not interested in that show,” Kemp said. “That show makes me very sad. There’s a reason why I didn’t do that, why we don’t see those flashbacks. I think that’s more detrimental to the culture. That is my soul reason. My storytelling reason is we’ve already had ‘Power,’ so how do I set stakes? What’s scary?”
Comments
Bossip Comment Policy
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.