A perfect climax

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A perfect climax

Tuesday, 20 August 2019 | Team Viva

A perfect climax

Actor Omari Hardwick says that he was doing eight films and 200 songs while playing the ghost mode in his series, Power, and still couldn’t really get out of that role. By Team Viva

When odyssey started, did you get a vibe that this was something special?

Naturi and I probably felt it. She was sharing about the craze our fans had. I think we had parallel thoughts to run with the story as I am too artistic. Also, the ‘odyssey’ word choice is very interesting. The way our fans went crazy really humbled me and made me think that the story could be very special.

Tell us about the relationship between Ghost and Tasha.

To understand this relationship, you will have to go back to the bathroom scene in the beginning, that’s where the thread gets a little thin. They were not on the same page from the start and also did not wanted the same thing for the kids. They admit that they don’t want the kids to be a part of the drug game but had many differences. I feel that the show gives a Shakespearean aspect and told Naturi about the same.

Courtney just said the same thing

I told her in the very first meet that I could act in a Shakespearean context which is so literary. I recalled a Shakespeare stage performance in college as a football player. So it was easy for me to act. I had known Naturi for five years before Power. We share a 12 year relationship now. I told her to read up on Lady Macbeth and play the character in a way that was never seen on TV. Edie Falco brought a very similar show. Us being compared to that show is beyond humbling. When you think about it, Jimmy Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, it wasn’t as complex as what Naturi’s Tasha was to Ghost. Naturi got the chance to play awesome, microscopic look of the female contingent of power and understand what it means to be a female with power, influence, vulnerability, insecurity and brokenness and how that can look. I think she nailed this role.

Will Tariq end up being a criminal just like his dad? 

Being raised by parents or grandparents we learn through the series of actions that take place in our lives. In life, we often say lies unknowingly. We tend to think that because we didn’t say red when it was green it is not a lie. It was a lie when Tosh and Ghost didn’t say anything. So, withholding information was detrimental to the kid. Not only Ghost, but even Naturi was interested to watch the teenager’s face to make out what he was upto.

How hard it is for you both to shake off your characters when the show wraps for the day?

Omari is not good at it but Naturi is better. She is a child star and knows what I mean. She has really helped me in many ways. When I used to take a deep breath, she used to suggest me not to do this in the grocery store as it’s hard to shake ghost in glasses. Having her as a friend has really aided and she also shares a close bond with my actual wife. Ghost is extremely different. I did eight films while doing Power, 200 songs and I still couldn’t really get out of the ghost mode. I was totally doing other things, but I was always allegiant to Courtney and to Starz. When I was around Naturi, it was easier for me to go home to my actual family when I had scenes with them. If  I had scenes with killers in the show, it was very difficult to go home. She probably helped the best with my methodical insertion as an actor playing ghost and helped me in getting rid of it.

Can you choose a standout moment from the past seasons?

Yes, the audacity, the arrogance to say you can’t leave the body. As the guy that played ghost, I would try to represent all the people that were so integral. The powerful scene where Natori comes to visit me in the prison, and the family was behind her. And Raina, played by Donshea (Hopkins) who was no longer on the show at that point, but when she talks to me in the jail and then I tell Tommy to take care of my family, it was also too powerful.

What do you think that the fans will take away from this final chapter in the story?

For me, it is simple, it’s to be satisfied. There are shows that have been indelibly placed into our psyche as parts of the cultural shift in Television history and yet at the end they leave fans with a feeling of drift. I hope that we make the fans feel like we climaxed perfectly. At the end we want them to say, “this is great.”

(The show’s Season 6 releases on August 26 on SonyLIV.)

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