- Title: 'Raising Kanan' cast of new 'Power' TV show call it a "Black Sopranos"
- Date: 15th July 2021
- Summary: VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS (JULY 7, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, PATINA MILLER, ON WHY 'POWER' FANS SHOULD WATCH THIS NEW SERIES ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF 50 CENT'S CHARACTER, SAYING: "You want to understand the psychology of, like, how this character (Kanan) got to be that way. And you want to meet the people who influenced all of that because he didn't just get that way by himself. So I would be excited as a fan of the show to take it back to the beginning: Before there was a Ghost, before there was a Tommy, there was a Raq and there was a young 15-year-old Kanan, and there was a Thomas family, and there was a Unique (drug kingpin played by rapper Bada$$), and there was this world of the 90s where the shit was real. And, you know, you get to really see who these characters were. So it's exciting."
- Embargoed: 29th July 2021 11:34
- Keywords: 50 Cent Omar Epps Patina Miller Power Power Book III: Raising Kanan television series
- Location: VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Television,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA008ELYB7F1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: AUDIBLE PROFANITY IN SHOTS 5 AND 9
FOR INTERVIEW WITH 50 CENT AND ACTOR MEKAI CURTIS, PLEASE SEE EDIT 4107-TELEVISION-POWER BOOK III/50 CENT
The next instalment in the "Power" franchise hits television screens this week, with a coming-of-age prequel story for character Kanan Stark.
Set in 1990s Queens, New York, "Power Book III: Raising Kanan" sees Mekai Curtis play a younger version of rapper 50 Cent's character from the original crime drama.
50 Cent returns as executive producer and performs the theme song "Part of the Game".
Reuters spoke to the rapper, Curtis, Patina Miller who plays Kanan's mother Raq, and Omar Epps who plays Detective Howard, about the series, which premieres on July 18.
Below are excerpts edited for length and clarity.
Q: Are there elements of your own experiences growing up this?
50 Cent: "This project is more than a TV show for me ... it's a little piece of me in each part of the show ... At the beginning where you see Kanan getting pushed around, that really happened ... and ... I was more afraid of my mom than those kids in the park."
Q: How did it feel revisiting the 90s?
50 Cent: "The real excitement for me in 'Raising Kanan' was to get back to the 90s ... Like if someone was to anchor the music that matches the tones of the actual show they're from the 90s era; the fashion, the clothes, the hairstyles, the energy, the whole project, it just takes me to a different place because of where I was, like at that time in my life."
Q: Did you feel pressure in taking on such a big role?
Curtis: "This is such an iconic character with such big shoes to fill ... so there was definitely ... one ... the pressure then two, the honour and the feel-good of like, oh wow, they've entrusted me to take this baton and run with it."
Q: The series is very layered and more about family values - the crime and violence are just part of what goes on.
Miller: "It's no different from 'The Sopranos', it's no different from 'Scarface', it's no different from 'Goodfellas' ... it's within the 'Power' world and with people of colour. "
Epps: "I like the 'Black Sopranos'. I like that because ... a lot of it is cerebral ... you've met this character (Kanan) at a place already - 'Power' fans, where you just think he's just like this one-dimensional monster. But now through 'Raising Kanan', you're meeting him as this innocent teenage kid who's going through adolescence and hormones ... he's trying to figure it out and so is his mom, because she's like a single mom ... it's so layered and so textured."
Q: Raq is certainly not one-dimensional.
Miller: "I was about finding the love, the positive that Raq has, like that dream of her wanting to be the best mom ... but then also having to be hard. It's the flip flop of those emotions."
Q: Detective Howard only briefly makes an appearance at the end of Episode 1. What more do we learn about him as the series continues?
Epps: "He's connected to everything ... there's an organic avenue for him to travel down with every character that makes sense for the audience ... So he just gets to do what he wants to do. But through the journey of the first season ... he loses that feeling of control and things happen to him that he has to figure out how to deal with ... that's where the audience will hopefully, be emotionally attached to him."
(Production: Lisa Giles-Keddie, Marie-Louise Gumuchian) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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