Courtney Kemp Reveals How Michael Rainey Jr Was Cast As Tariq St. Patrick
Power has been a hit show on the Starz Network since it debuted in 2014. One of the actors responsible for that success is Michael Rainey Jr.
He has now become the main character in Power Book II: Ghost, and during a recent Instagram Live Q & A, the show’s creator, Courtney Kemp, shared how Rainey was cast as Tariq St. Patrick eight years ago.
“So, I think I may have told you this before, but in the original version of the outline that I wrote, this is a long time ago. In the original version of the outline, Tariq was fifteen,” said Kemp.
“When we cast Naturi [Naughton], we had to cast an eleven-year-old, which is how we got Michael Rainey. Which is awesome, but he was originally fifteen, so I was going to tell a different story. We got some of that story, I was able to tell some of it, but not all of it. So, we have a lot more story to tell.”
They made the right decision by casting Rainey Jr as Tariq St. Patrick because he has become an absolute star because of this show. But unfortunately, he has also developed a love-hate relationship with fans as Tariq.
In the original Power, he made fans hate him because he pulled the trigger that killed Ghost, his father, at the end of season six. However, in the spinoff Power Book II: Ghost, they want to see him outsmart Cooper Saxe and the rest of the US Attorney’s office just like his father did before him.
Now, Tariq is on trial for the murders of Jabari Reynolds and Officer Danilo Ramirez. However, this time, Cooper Saxe and Davis McLean are on the same side and trying to keep Tariq out of jail.
There are only two episodes left in season 2 Power Book II: Ghost, and can be seen on Starz at 8 pm EST on Sunday nights.
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