5:00 p.m., September 6, 2020
Spotted by Eminem in 2002, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has sold over 60 million albums worldwide. But in recent years, the incarnation of gangsta rap seems to have abandoned music for the screen, where it has multiplied appearances, in cinema as on TV, often dispensable. Since 2014 he has produced the series Power (OCS Choc), the story of James “Ghost” St. Patrick, a nightclub owner who tries to get back to business after his release from prison. A bling-bling ordeal that fascinates the public for six seasons and 63 episodes. Fifty himself embodies the enemy of the hero. Today arrives on the StarzPlay platform Power Book II : Ghost, a spin-off series focusing on Ghost’s son, who enters college while his mother blames himself for the murder he committed. The cast includes R’n’B singer Mary J. Blige and star rapper Method Man. Three other spin-offs were also announced.
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Are you surprised at the success and longevity of Power?
No from the start I was telling Courtney [A. Kemp, la créatrice et showrunner] than Power would be a success and that it would last six seasons. I would never have worked so hard on this project if I hadn’t been persuaded. To launch the series, I had agreed to be paid only $ 17,000 per episode while I was paid more just to hang out in a nightclub, without even going on stage! At the beginning, I was the only spokesperson. Then the audiences started to climb and we started to invite the other actors as well. In the end, I didn’t even have to move!
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There must be some form of portrayal of African Americans, but the series are still entertainment
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Music plays an essential role in the series. Why?
Our initial idea was to create a series where the music would speak for the characters. For example, the hero looks at the city and the music expresses what he feels. This is what the great Curtis Mayfield did when he wrote the soundtrack for Superfly [film culte de la Blaxploitation sorti en 1972]. He’s watched the movie before, and what he composed completely matches the footage. We must have watched it three or four times with Courtney, I told him we had to do the same. Writing the credits was easy for me because I knew the project inside out. And when it works well, a song can win over a new audience. In concert I can sing Big Rich Town in front of 60,000 people. It becomes an advertisement for the series.
Did you enjoy spending time directing an episode?
It was a different experience. As an actor, I only focused on what had to do with my character. During the production, I had to think about the 32 scenes of the episode! And in each scene, I had to focus on the performance of each actor. But since they’ve worked together for six years, they know their roles so well that you just have to tell them what to expect from a scene, especially a big slow-motion shootout. For this episode, I received an award from the NAACP [l’organisation américaine de promotion des gens de couleur et de défense des droits civiques].
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Are you paying attention to the representation of African Americans?
There must be some form of representation, but the series are still entertainment. Our projects should not aim to reflect our political views. We must give the writers a certain creative freedom to develop the best possible programs. We cannot ask them everything.
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I loved The All Risks Agency and Sheriff, scare me
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what about Raising Right, the next spin-off of Power?
As the name suggests, this series will tell about the childhood of the character I played in Power. We took as a model The Freedmen, by Martin Scorsese: Ray Liotta voiced Henry’s character even as a child. So I will be the voiceover for the young Kanan.
As a viewer, what are your favorite series?
When I was little, I loved The All Risks Agency and Sheriff, scare me. Today, with the pandemic, I stay at home a lot and watch whatever interests me on Netflix and elsewhere. I also saw and enjoyed a lot P-Valley [une série centrée sur un club de strip-tease, disponible en France sur StarzPlay], with good actors. If it weren’t so problematic because of the filming suspended due to the Covid, I would say it’s the best time of television: people spend more time at home and can catch up on whatever they missed. . In the old days, there was a clear separation between the big screen and the small one. This separation has faded as the quality has changed sides. Oscar-winning actors are now making television. Even the great Forest Whitaker plays in Godfather of Harlem [inédite en France]. There are so many good series today!
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