When Power Book II: Ghost lifts off for its sophomore season, there will be a new player in town.
Mecca is new to the Power Universe, but he’s sure to make a hell of an impact right away. And while he may be the new kid on the block with his own agenda, Cane and Lorenzo will be back with plans of their own.
This will make for a rather intriguing season for the three gentlemen.
TV Fanatic was able to steal a few minutes with series stars Daniel Sunjata, Woody McClain, and Berto Colón, as they discussed the upcoming season and gave us some insight into what’s to come from their characters.
Daniel, can you tell our readers a little bit about Mecca and what his place will be within the Power universe?
Daniel: Yeah. In brief, Mecca is introduced in the very first episode. His place is revealed as the episodes unfold, but I can say he comes in with an agenda. He’s pretty much willing to do anything that he has to do in order to produce the desired outcome and gets a little messy.
I like that. Woody, throughout the first season, watching Cane, I always was thinking, what motivates him? What’s the basis behind a lot of his actions? Is it family? Is it a sense of loyalty? Is it self-preservation? I swing that back to you. What do you think is the basis behind a lot of Cane’s actions?
Woody: I really believe it’s family. Cane has been taught from birth, family first. You know what I mean? So it’s just one of those; it’s family. It’s family. That’s what motivates him. That’s all he knows, family. So, anybody that’s coming within the family that doesn’t belong, his first instinct is to get rid of them. That’s it. So yeah, family.
Berto, Lorenzo is behind bars, but he still has a lot of influence on many different things. Can you speak to that influence and also if we’ll continue to see that in season two?
Berto: Well, hi Whitney, first of all.
Hi!
Berto: Yeah. This is, for me personally, it’s always been a question of how to be more efficient with your influence, because of course, you are in a place where you’re, well, Lorenzo is in a place where he’s out of touch, physical presence out of touch with the people that he is trying to influence.
So there’s always that forceful energy that he has to embody. But there’s the knowledge that after, he or she, or whomever he addresses, is going to be away from him. What’s the trick to maintain that so that they themselves follow the same agenda or that they keep those intentions that I have?
So it’s a nice balance between trying to be forceful but influential and soft to a certain extent, but not really soft. There’s got to be a way to maintain the message afterward, and I think that’s the duality that I work with, and I think Lorenzo lives in.
Mm-hmm. Woody, Cane, and Tariq have a very interesting and a bit tense relationship. So can you speak to that dynamic and what we’ll continue to see with them this season?
Woody: I don’t know how to answer that. Listen, Cane is super stubborn. And again, you have an element coming from outside of the family. I don’t see it happening. I’m not sure what season two looks like, but I’m not sure. I can’t even answer the question. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.
No, you’re fine. You’re fine.
Daniel: You know what they should have done, Whitney? They should have given us a list of the things that we can say.
Yeah. [laughs]
Daniel: But we have a stack of papers like this. Don’t say this, don’t say that.
I know, I know.
Daniel: Got to watch the show. Yeah.
Berto: I think they just want to see the reaction as we battle with not spilling the beans that they know. How we deal in that moment.
Woody: Exactly.
Berto: Let’s see how we manage this one.
Woody: Right. Right.
Well, I think this is a little bit easier, maybe. But Daniel, what drew you to the role, and were you a fan of Power coming into this role?
Daniel: Watched every episode of every season, and they didn’t take anything to draw me in. As soon as I got the offer, I was like, couldn’t get to New York fast enough. I mean, I’m a huge fan. And this is one of the crazy things is.
One of the things I was most excited about was that we have the same intro as Power. I just love that damn song. I never skip the intro when I’m watching an episode of Ghost or Power. That’s how you get ready for the show. This is big. You got to get the popcorn ready and all that. It’s dope. It’s dope.
Berto: Absolutely.
Yeah. It’s very true. Berto, since it’s such a large cast, you guys all get to share scenes with each other. So in your dream world, what character would Lorenzo get to interact with and have a really cool storyline with?
Berto: Well, I am looking forward; obviously, these two gentlemen here with me today are integral to Lorenzo, to the character. So obviously, they’re top on that list.
But I think I’d love more of an opportunity to interact with Michael, with Tariq, because I think that, in a weird way, the story supposedly has Lorenzo and Ghost maybe are on the same age.
So perhaps they knew each other, so it’d be interesting to try to draw that connection to that with Michael, in a situation where we’re playing that, but yeah, that would be Michael.
Cool! Power has a loyal and passionate fan base. So Woody, how have you felt about that connection that the fans have with Cane?
Woody: I felt like the audience took very well at Cane. I was surprised. From watching the OG Power and seeing the Kanan’s and seeing the Ghosts and the Dres. Those bad boys. Those bad guys. I was thinking, like, those are some big, big shoes to fill. So I thought it was great that the audience really took to Cane.
And I’m trying to bring something different with them, and I hope we get a chance to touch on it and talk about it, but we’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll see.
This one might be a little bit hard, so I’m going to rephrase it. But for season two, if you guys could each describe what you’re excited for the audience to see from your character, maybe even if it’s just a word to describe your characters in season two, or anything like that, starting with Daniel.
Daniel: I would say from Mecca, you’re going to see a very calculated deployment of what he knows in order to get what he wants. That’s not one word, but yeah.
No. Yeah, I like it.
Daniel: Imaginations. Yeah.
Woody: Wardrobe. The wardrobe department is insane. I don’t think they get as much kudos as they deserve, but our wardrobe department is top-notch. I’m so excited for people to see the wardrobe.
Daniel: Every time Woody would walk on set, I would just look at him like, this is not fair. His drip game is…
Berto: It’s on.
Really? The good stuff.
Berto: It’s on. It’s on. It’s so on.
Daniel: Yeah.
Woody: Cane is insane when it comes to the drip.
Berto: Yes. Yes.
And you, Berto. If you got anything you want to add.
Berto: Yeah. So essentially, it’s hard to answer that question without having some preconceived notion because when this whole came to me, I had the privilege, of course, speaking with Courtney, and I knew where he needed to go. So I guess in one word would be, it’s like achieving the unexpected.
How do you achieve the unexpected and the biggest unknown, I guess, in the character’s life yet. He doesn’t know what the future holds, but he’s going to achieve something regardless of whether it’s affecting his family in a way, making money, what have you. He’s achieving things without knowing what’s next.
And that development of that, that plotline for me, is what I look forward to.
Power Book II: Ghost airs on Sundays at 8/7c on STARZ.
***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
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