SEASON 4 POWER UNIVERSE | POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN LONDON BROWN, HAILEY KILGORE, MALCOLM MAYS

We're a few days out from S4 of Power Book III: Raising Kanan with its season premiere on STARZ on March 7th. The Power Universe is always pulling us in as we see how they navigate in their world, new faces, and the importance of family dynamics. If you have yet to catch up on the season, now is the time! There are no spoilers here if you have already watched the series; however, if you haven't there may be references in previous episodes.

We sat down with 3 members of the cast London Brown (Ballers, American Soul, Back to the Good Life) who plays Marvin Thomas, Hailey Kilgore (Amazing Stories, Respect, Cinnamon) who plays Laverne "Jukebox" Ganner, and Malcolm Mays (Southpaw, Snowfall, Them) who plays Lou-Lou Thomas. We wanted to know more about their characters, how they see them, where we find them, and chat about what we can look forward to as we get ready for the upcoming episodes.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so great to connect with you all. London, we have talked ahead of every season and it’s so good to check in with you again. Hailey, I had the pleasure of chatting with you prior to S2 I believe which was great. Malcolm, it’s nice to connect with you! What do you enjoy about playing your characters Marvin, Jukebox, and Lou Lou before we delve into the season?

LONDON BROWN: For me, it’s been fun for them to allow me to play the character my way. The fact that they were open and willing to hear the ideas that I had on Marvin and I could tell that the writers started to write for me! That’s always great when the writers know that you are going to do something with their words. I was able to feel that and I knew that they had figured it out.

I’m like, “yo, throw it at me – whatever it is!” Let it be emotional, fun – whatever you want to do. Do you want guns? Do you want him holding some food? I’m ready to have a good time! I just appreciate the writers for even allowing me and trusting me to deliver their words properly, you know?

AM: It’s always fun when I see you on screen London as you always own that screen and it’s great to see how we you have navigated playing Martin.

Hailey and Malcom what about Juke and Lou Lou?

HAILEY KILGORE: Juke is a badass! If I was walking around unafraid like that and willing to be bold would be amazing. I don’t think that I have that personally.

MALCOLM MAYS: I kind of like that he’s kind of a mark, that’s kind of nice. I’m not like that and I don’t get to relate or empathize with mark ass behavior in my life. Everybody is not built of steel, you have to pretend to be built of steel. It’s nice to occupy that space sometimes. In life, much like Black women, Black men don’t get that opportunity to be vulnerable with that physical consequence.

AM: As we wait for S4 to start, where did we leave your characters last season and where are we picking up with them again?

HK: Ooo

MM: Ha! There’s so many seasons!

LB: You know, that’s a good question! I would say that with the last season, I feel like Marvin – you guys are catching him still in the strive of his journey and he’s trying to find his real groove. He’s trying to be a guy that is taking on more responsibility for himself and not trying to be sonned by Raq (Patina Miller). So moving forward, in this season, you see Marvin taking more initiative and making his own moves outside of whatever his sister has going on.

That’s his way of trying to be a little more independent and to take back his position in and within himself. That way he feels validated and so the season of things that Marvin and Stefano Marchetti (Tony Danza) share is because of that. Marvin is trying to find someone that really appreciates his work because for so long, he feels like his loyalty and things like that were slept on! This season, he’s like, “yo, I’m about to figure it out on my own!”

AM: What are you excited about for S4 that fans should be looking forward to?

MM: I think that I just got out of rehab so they should be looking forward to a more sober and less crash out Lou – that’s what I remember!

HK: Listen, I think the fans have been demanding this switch to flip in Juke and I think that they’re going to get that this season.

LB: I’m excited for the fans to see the real family side of the show. I think that sometimes, because it is in the Power Universe, I think that the fans only think about you know, the dramatics, the street life, but I think that this season, the audience will really be able to see that yo, they’re involved in all of the nefarious things, but they are a real family with real issues and son/daughter dynamics – they’re trying to figure it all out. But at the end of the day, they really are family. The family stuff that the audience will finally get to see is going to finally be able to explain and answer some questions from previous seasons. Oh, that’s why Raq and Marvin have this dynamic because of that, this is why Lou is doing what he’s doing – we kind of break it down some more and that has been fun!

AM: It’s incredible how you have all brought these characters to life and we’re looking forward to how we see it on screen soon! It’s great to chat with all of you to get your takes as we get ready for S4 and I always love each season catching up with you.

LB: Thank you so much, I appreciate you!

IG @reallondonbrown

@haileyfkilgore

@imalcolmmays

@raisingkananstarz

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | STARZ/POWR BOOK III: Raising Kanan

Read the FEB ISSUE #110 of Athleisure Mag and see SEASON 4 POWER UNIVERSE | POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan London Brown, Hailey Kilgore, Malcom Mays in mag.

POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN REALITIES OF LIFE MEKAI CURTIS, JOEY BADA$$, LONDON BROWN

Season 3 of STARZ's POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan is back on Dec 1st at midnight on the STARZ app (all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms) as well as on STARZ at 9pm ET every Friday night! We caught up with MeKai Curtis (Arrested Development, Girl Meets World, Milo Murphy's Law), Joey BadA$$ (Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Mr. Robot, Grown-ish), and London Brown (The Hustle, Ballers, American Soul) who are all back for the latest season. We wanted to find out about what we can expect for this season (season 4 is not only renewed but is already in production) as well as what we should be excited for!

MeKai plays Kanan Stark in the 90's in the origin story of the character played by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in POWER, the flagship series. We know he's the devoted son of Raquel "Raq" Thomas (Patina Miller) and as he searches for answers that he will ultimately evolve. We wanted to know how he approaches Kanan, what drew him to this series and what he is excited for.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so exciting to be able to connect with you. How do you approach playing Kanan?

MEKAI CURTIS: You know, I approach it like any other character that I would approach and like how anybody would approach life. I take it line by line, scene by scene, day by day, reaction by reaction – I kind of just try to make it as organic as I can. That’s all acting it. It’s reacting.

AM: Where did we leave Kanan last season and where are we picking up with him again?

MC: I think that you’ll kind of find Kanan in the same spot that you left him at the end of season 2. He’s just trying to get a lot of answers to a lot of questions that he has and some of the answers that he’s getting aren’t necessarily adding up. So he dives deeper into finding those answers and then he builds his truth and his new world around that information! So you know, you’re just again finding an inquisitive young man trying to figure out what he is doing in life and who he is.

AM: What made you want to play this character as well as to join this amazing cast?

MC: Ah man, I mean, wanting to play this character, it stemmed from partially being a fan of the original franchise and then just wanting to push myself as an artist and to take on something new, to stretch my chops and to do something that I knew that I could. But even signing on, I had no idea in certain ways on what I was stepping into. I’m beyond grateful for it. I’m beyond ready for it. But even the magnitude of where we are and what we’re creating, it wasn’t so heavily on me at the time. It was just again about doing good work and getting to be part of the POWER franchise!

AM: What should fans be excited about as we come into the season as I can’t believe that it launches this Fri on Dec 1st!

MC: Ah wow! It is crazy! Oh wow, it is coming up on Fri!

AM: I know, right?

MC: Yo, time is moving – I mean time is just timing! It’s just happening. Everything is happening so fast! I mean, you just threw me for a loop with that one!

I mean it’s about just being able to watch the season! It’s about continuing the journey and continuing the ride with us. It’s about continuing to unfold and discover this world and these characters and what made the person – the original people that the fans of the original franchise are really able to get to understand. It’s about knowing the person that they saw from the original and new people that we have garnered and have started to bring onto the ship. They’re getting to enjoy just a really good story. It’s a coming of age story, a story of love, a story of forgiveness, a story of ups and downs and bonding. It’s about just trying to pave your way and making it do what it do every day that you’re allowed to!

IG @themekaicurtis

We've been a fan of rapper and actor, Joey BadA$$ and the energy that he brings into playing playing notorious drug lord, Kadeem “Unique” Mathis, a character that continues to unveil his complexities from season to season. In addition to finding out how he brings this character to life, we also wanted to know what he loves about playing him as well as what drew him to the POWER universe.

ATHLEISURE MAG: How do you approach playing Unique?

JOEY BADA$$: Well you know, once I get suited and booted, it’s definitely like I get 5 points for that! You know what I mean? Just being in the attire! Also, it’s just more of the mental preparation than anything. You know, I’m thinking about what must be going on in the character’s mind, what are the current challenges that he’s facing and how can I bring that to life on the screen? How can I show that with my actions or my mannerisms or even my facial expressions.

AM: Where did we leave Unique last season and where are we picking up with him again this season?

JB: So you know, last season we saw the villain become the hero and I thought that that was very interesting. You know, I think that with this new season, historically, he was the guy that you hated that you loved or the guy that you loved that you hated. But now, I feel like people are going to see him in a new light this season because he’s in much more of a vulnerable space navigating this chemistry between him and Raq. So, you know his brother being back home and Ronnie’s (Grantham Coleman) not happy with what Unique has done. So there’s this work-life balance that Unique is facing and you know, I think that people are really going to see more of the human aspect of Unique more than anything this season so I’m excited about that!

AM: What made you want to play this character and be part of this phenomenal cast?

JB: Well I’ve been a fan of the original POWER series you know for a long time. When I saw that they were doing a spin-off, I just thought, look I just need a role. It don’t really matter which one it is, but once the role of Unique came and I auditioned for this character and it landed on my desk, I’m like, this is it – this is me. You know, by every means, this is me. I felt like I was born to play this character, you know what I’m saying? It’s been exciting to say the least and I’m super grateful to be part of this universe and to be part of the family.

AM: It’s always fun to see when you’re on screen! Are there any other upcoming projects that we should keep our eye out for that you can tell us about?

JB: Well, as we know, Raising Kanan Season 3 is coming. I’m working on a new album right now to put out at the top of next year. So I’m looking forward to that! Yeah and you know, more film stuff. I’m actually starting up a production company right now so I’m actually looking to get my hand involved in the executive level in this film industry so I am genuinely excited about that! I’ll be producing some of my own projects. I’m just looking forward to elevation and growth!

IG @joeybadass

Before the series premiere of this show, we caught up with London Brown who plays Marvin Thomas, who is Raq's older brother and Kanan's uncle. In that interview, he introduced us to POWER BOOK III, and it's great to now touchbase with him ahead of the 3rd season, to know more about his thoughts on the intracacies of Marvin, how he continues to approach him when playing him, why he enjoys bringing him to life and of course, what we need to know to be prepared for the upcoming season.

ATHLEISURE MAG: How do you approach playing Marvin?

LONDON BROWN: With a lot of concentration and focus in the sense that I just try to make sure that I try to create a lot of layers for Marvin so that he really becomes 3 dimensional and that he’s just not just some caricature, but more so a real person with real feelings. That way, the audience can go on a journey with me.

AM: Where did we leave Marvin last season, and where are we picking up with him again?

LB: We leave Marvin last season injured and in the middle of trying to repair relationships and we pick it up with him right there in the sense of he’s learned some lessons and now he is trying to apply those lessons to really become a better person. Not only for himself, but for those that he loves.

AM: We had the pleasure to catch up before the first season aired and so to talk with you again has been great. What do you enjoy about playing him across these seasons?

LB: The thing that I enjoy is experimenting with the arc of Marvin. That’s what I like! I don’t like for any character to stay in one thing and you can’t put Marvin in any kind of particular space because he’s doing different things. People can even experience that from the first season. This is true even from season to season. Even within a scene, you'll see Marvin go from one extreme to the next. So that’s been fun, just to get into the layers of playing Marvin.

AM: What should we expect from this season as we’re excited that this show is back!

LB: I think that people should expect plot twists and more specifically with Marvin. Just when people thought that they understood Marvin, they’re going to see a completely different side of Marvin that people can appreciate and whatever ideas that they thought that they had of Marvin in Season 1 like, “oh man, he did – oh wait – he is – he’s like this and like that!” But Marvin is still Marvin. So Marvin don’t start no issues, but if you cross him, he’ll finish them. So the undertone of Marvin is still there, but there are a lot of new notes to Marvin that we explored.

IG @reallondonbrown

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | STARZ/POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan

Read the NOV ISSUE #95 of Athleisure Mag and see POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan - Realities of Life | MeKai Curtis, Joey BadA$$, London Brown in mag.

IT'S ALL ABOUT FAMILY | POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN SEASON 2

We always like chatting with those who are in the POWER universe. STARZ's POW- ER BOOK III Raising Kanan is back for Season 2 on Aug 14th. We caught up with its creator, executive producer and writer, Sascha Penn (POWER, Survivor's Remorse, CREED II) and two of the stars from the show Hailey Kilgore (Respect, Ain't Misbe- havin', Into the Woods) who plays Jukebox and Omar Dorsey (Genius: Aretha, Queen Sugar, Halloween Kills) who plays Cartier.

We caught up with them to talk about how they prepare for being in this series from channeling the era of the 90's as an actor as well as to get the feel of the show through music and clothing. We talk about where we left these characters last season and where we find them now. More importantly, we look at how this show, as a prequel, has a set destination while having the challenge to create the origin story that we have the ability to see the connective tissue of those involved!

ATHLEISURE MAG: You were a producer and writer for the flagship POWER - how did that transition feel when you became the creator for POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan for the roles of showrunner, executive producer and writer?

SASCHA PENN: I will tell you that Courtney Kemp who is obviously the creator of POWER, she warned me! She said, “I don’t know if you want this job!” She was right ha ha!

It’s a lot more work, it’s a lot more responsibility. Obviously, I had to create a world that didn’t exist whereas the other POWER BOOK’s do have the luxury of characters that are already in the original POWER. So in the case of this particular series, there’s a lot of invention that had to happen and that was a real challenge and still staying true to the original series, that’s always important!

AM: Absolutely!

SP: To have it feel part of that and at the same time, distinct from it, that’s part of the challenge. As well as the fact that you know how the story is going to end with Kanan (Mekai Curtis) if you watch the original POWER. So how do you make that interesting? How do you make that compelling? I mean, it’s a very very different job, and Courtney, I appreciate her warning me because she was right, but it’s a great job too and I can’t complain.

 AM: What’s your creative process like? Like you said, you're establishing a be- ginning of the universe and yet you know where it’s ultimately going to go.

SP: Yeah, first off, I’m very fortunate that I have a room full of writers to help me figure out these stories and to deconstruct these characters and then build them back up. You know, the process is that really in TV, you start from the characters. That’s the starting point for everything in TV. We had Kanan and then it was the question of again, to your point – we know how the story ends, where do we start? It’s not that interesting to tell the story of a sociopath if that’s how he starts! We really landed and I hope that it works that this is a family drama. It’s the story of this family – Kanan’s family and understanding how he became who he became. If you’ve watched it, you know that he has started out from a different spot then where he ended.

AM: What are you excited about in terms of Season 2 with the storylines and dif- ferent things that you can share with us?

SP: I think what’s exciting is first off, there’s this business of how Season 1 ended that we have to clean up right? That’s a real challenge because it ended in such a dramatic fashion and so you know that obviously that had an impact on Raq (Patina Miller) and Kanan’s relationship and the family in general. At the same time, she’s balancing these very personal issues with her expanding business. That is in some respect the balance that we all have to sort of address which is work and life and how do we do it? In her case, the stakes are significantly higher. But you know what's great in Season 2 and really any series that gets another season or multiple seasons, you get the opportunity to go deeper, go into different places and really get the opportunity to explore these different characters in a way that you haven’t before. In this series, we’re fortunate that we have incredible actors who are doing it. That’s the other thing. In Season 1, you don’t to- tally know what you’re going to get and in the case of Raising Kanan we have been so fortunate that the actors have been so incredible and it really allows it to be able to write bigger storylines and dramatic moments because these actors can kind of do anything!

AM: It feels like that in addition to the great characters and the storyline, having it set in the 90’s, you have the music and just the clothing that’s also another character. It’s just as big and brings that ambiance factor. How was it to navigate that? Getting clothes and sneakers that are distinct to the era?

SP: It’s a huge challenge and that’s a great question because it’s a huge, huge challenge! It’s probably one of our great- est challenges because of course, all the great sneaker releases when they release the Jordans, like the Jordans 5, they look slightly different from the ones of that era. So we have to be really careful because you know, the viewers they know better than we do and they will call us out! Twitter is undefeated! So it really is a big job and we are very fortunate, we have a Costume Designer Tsigie White who spends months and months and months going through people’s warehouses and closets trying to find the original deadstock stuff that we use. We’ve also been fortunate that we’ve worked with designers of that era like Dapper Dan who have built stuff for us like Unique’s (Joey Bada$$) outfits, those are original Dapper Dan – such as that jacket. The goods news is what’s old is new again and all this 90s stuff like Sergio Tacchini is back!

Looking at the show, we got to see the complexity of having the character's ends set in stone while also being able to really dig into who they were before who they came to be in POWER and even as they continue in the other portions of the POWER universe!

We wanted to talk with Hailey who is one of the actors who plays a character that we saw in POWER, Jukebox. We wanted to know how she came to the show, connected to her character and how she found her way to catch the 90's vibe of that time and in NYC in order to bring her to light. We also wanted to find out about Omar and his character Cartier.

ATHLEISURE MAG: You play Jukebox and Cartier, what attracted you to want to be this character as well as to be part of this show?

HAILEY KILGORE: I was so into being a princess when I was younger. I wanted to play princesses and I wanted to be a damsel in distress and that’s exactly what I got to do when I was on Broadway and I did my first couple of roles. I remember calling my team at one point and saying, “I want to do something gritty, do something different. I want to get down in the mud and really go there with a character!” So Jukebox came into my inbox and I was just immediately so pulled to this character and her story and who she is at her core. So yeah, I was like, I’m absolutely going to do this, I’m a huge Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and the Frog, THEM, POWER) fan. She was the original Jukebox on POWER as an adult.

AM: It was like perfect kismet! What about you Omar?

OMAR DORSEY: Honestly, I was into the Raising Kanan from the first episode because of Patina Miller (Madam Secretary, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 + 2, The Many Saints of Newark). I think she is one of our most gifted artists. I did a stage reading for a Broadway show with her a few years ago and was impressed with her. So, when I got the call about the show, Patina was the first thing I thought about.

AM: What’s it like for you preparing since this takes place in the 90’s as you’re playing the character and taking on this iconic era.

HK: Yeah, that was a very very different time and especially in NYC in the 90’s. Oooo it was such a different time and women really had to survive on a day-to-day basis. I really just went to the root. I watched a lot of documentaries. I listened to a lot of rappers that came up in NY. If you just listen and pay attention, you hear the struggle and the pain. It’s so interesting because to them, it was an everyday scenario. So, I just really like to ground my performance in the realism of survival. Jukebox really wears that mask. You see with her family that she’s silly and wants to laugh and she can cry and confide in them. But then, when she’s out in public, she’s stoned face and I have fun with that.

OD: With Raising Kanan taking place in the 90’s, the preparation was easy for me. The 90’s were quite a time for me. I was in high school and listening to all the music, wearing all the clothes that we did in the show. I felt like I was pretty much taken into a time machine.

AM: Where do we leave Jukebox in Season 1 and where do we pick up with her again heading into Season 2?

HK: Season 1 leaves Juke really heartbroken and so when we come back, we see her as quite a shell of herself. We see how she starts picking up the pieces and put- ting them back together in her own way.

AM: Tell us about Cartier “Duns” Fareed and what can we expect from his as we watch him this season?

OD: Cartier is an international man of mystery. What does he do to make all the money that he has? He's a Shakespeare spewing, art collecting gent ... with a serious secret. Let’s just say he introduces people to each other.

AM: Hailey, you are involved in so many things and the fact that you are part of the world of Broadway and TV as well, what are some upcoming projects that you have going on that we should keep an eye out for?

HK: I have a couple of projects coming out! I finally, have really invested my time into music so I will be dropping an EP very very soon. My first single off that EP, Worth It, drops on Aug 12th which I’m so excited about! This will be my first time leading a movie, it’s called Cinnamon and that will be coming out very very soon.

AM: Omar, we have enjoyed seeing you in a number of projects from Ray Donovan, Genius, Queen Sugar and even being Pastor Green in The Lower Bottoms podcast! What are some other projects coming up that we should keep an eye out for?

OD: Queen Sugar’s final season airs Sep- tember 6th. I’m so very excited for the world to see the culmination of the entire Bordelon clan. Hollywood and Vi (Tiffany Lifford) in particular. Their love has been an inspiration to see on TV weekly for almost a decade. I’m also returning to the Halloween franchise as Sheriff Barker for the finale of the Blumhouse produced trilogy, “Halloween Ends.” I think old Mike Meyers will finally meet his match!

IG @pennsascha

@haileyfkilgore

@omarjdorsey

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | STARZ/POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan

Read the AUG ISSUE #80 of Athleisure Mag and see IT’S ALL ABOUT FAMILY | POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN Season 2.