Energy Guide II: Ghost has been an absolute smash success. The collection follows the life of 18-year-old Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.) in the months following his father, James “Ghost” St. Patrick’s (Omari Hardwick) demise. Over the course of the first two seasons, followers have watched Tariq navigate his work as a drug vendor and his life as a school pupil.
Nonetheless, as profitable as Ghost has been, Rainey mentioned he felt a lot of strain earlier than the collection started.
Why did Courtney Kemp select to focus ‘Power Book II: Ghost’ on Tariq?
Tariq wasn’t precisely a well-loved character when Energy ended its six-season run. Subsequently, followers have been skeptical about embracing a spinoff centering Tariq. Nonetheless, Kemp had at all times had this plan in thoughts.
“I do think that if people get to know this version of Tariq, who is confused and alone and has so much pressure on his shoulders, they will see that all he’s trying to do is survive, which couldn’t be more relatable,” she instructed Entertainment Weekly earlier than Energy Guide II: Ghost premiered.
Watching the character develop and rework into an antihero is one of the issues that Kemp is most proud of. “That’s been really gratifying, that people are seeing him in a little bit of the light that I told you before, which is how I see him,” Kemp mentioned. “He has had a pretty rough go and he’s made a lot of terrible mistakes, but I think there’s also parts of him that really do try and take care of the people he loves.”
Michael Rainey Jr. felt a lot of strain earlier than ‘Ghost’ started
Nonetheless head of the collection premiere, Rainey felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, particularly contemplating the success of Energy. Fortunately, everybody round him was pushing for the very best collection.
“It really feels great to have people tuning in and really taking us seriously,” Rainey instructed Essence. “At first I was nervous. It was a lot of pressure on me.Being a part of this is dope, but especially having a chance to get the fans to do a 180 and be on Tariq’s side a little bit is really dope,” he mentioned. “Shout out to the writing team. They did their thing.”
Michael Rainey Jr. was shocked to study the spinoff
Not solely did Rainey really feel a lot of strain when it got here to main Ghost, however he was additionally shocked to be taught that the spinoff had been greenlit in the first place. “We were in the middle of filming season six, I forgot which episode it was, but [producer] 50 Cent had just shown up on set one day,” Rainey instructed Ash London Dwell by way of Express. “He was just there talking to everybody and then he stepped to me and brought me to the side and we were talking. He was like, ‘You know soon [you] got this done, you’re gonna be the lead of your own show.’” Rainey was bowled over since 50 Cent is understood for his sarcasm. “I was like, ‘All right, whatever,’” he remembered.
The 21-year-old actor revealed that he needed to get Kemp’s verification earlier than he realized 50 Cent was telling the reality. “Like a week or two after that [Power creator] Courtney [Kemp] had told me, ‘You know, after the show is going to be about you.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, so 50 wasn’t playing around. Like this is real,’” Rainey recalled.