Monique Gabriela Curnen, who played the role of Blanca Rodriguez in the hit crime drama series “Power,” initially auditioned for the role of Angela Valdes. The character of Angela, played by Lela Loren, is a complex and pivotal figure in the show, serving as the love interest of the main character, James “Ghost” St. Patrick.
Curnen’s audition for the role of Angela reportedly impressed the show’s creators and producers, but ultimately they felt that Loren was a better fit for the part. Despite not landing the role she originally auditioned for, Curnen’s talent and presence were undeniable, and the show’s creators were determined to find a way to work with her. They offered her the role of Blanca Rodriguez, a DEA agent tasked with taking down the show’s main character, Ghost. Curnen’s portrayal of Blanca was widely praised by both audiences and critics alike, cementing her place in the show’s ensemble cast.
Speaking of Curnen, she was a recent guest on The Crew Has It with Michael Rainey Jr & Gianna Paolo as they recapped Power Book II: Ghost’s season three episode two. During her appearance, Curnen talked about her audition for the infamous Angela Valdes role and how she got involved in the Power Universe.
“Okay, this is a little-known secret, well a few people know; I tested for Angela Valdes way back, and I’m good friends with Lela, and she’s an amazing person. These are the things you learned in your acting career; the role goes to the right person; right, we each have our path, and we fit where we’re. The right role always meets you at the right time, and I firmly believe in that. But that’s how I met Courtney, and Gabriella was there, and I met Joe for the first time then so, and then it poof disappeared. I was like, okay, great experience wasn’t for me,” said Curnen.
“So, it was 2017, and I got a call saying, hey, there’s this new role on Power. A recurring role or a couple of episodes are you down? And I was like, of course, I’m down. I always wanted to go back and work with Courtney in any right context, and there I showed up a Puerto Rican in a pantsuit as uh Joe has uh baptized me and uh and my I was in Episod501. [It was a straight offer because they had seen my work already.] So, that’s how that happened, and it was the death of the crooked [Cop Ray Ray]. So, my character comes to that scene because I’m finding out that he’s a crooked cop that got and then oh Angela Valdez is on, the scene the what was she at the time U.S attorney like at a little crime in The Heights. It didn’t make any sense, and so that’s where the Blanca calculations start to happen like something’s awry. Finally, one, and I firmly believed I was like, oh, everyone dies on this show, right I’m probably going to do three episodes of Max and get got. I think they said something. It could be three to five episodes or something like that, and here I am still hunting this one.”
Blanca is back as a part of the DEA as she teams up with Jenny Sullivan and Kevin Whiteman to try to take down the Tajada and St Patrick organization this season.
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Landon Buford is an accomplished sports and entertainment journalist based in Richardson, Texas, with over a decade of experience covering the NBA, WNBA, NFL, WWE, MLB, and the entertainment industry. Known for delivering high-impact stories and headline-making interviews, Buford has earned a global audience through content that blends insider access with compelling storytelling.
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