At just 19 years old, Michael Rainey Jr. has landed the lead role in Power’s spin-off.
The American actor returns as Tariq St. Patrick in POWER BOOK II: GHOST, premiering on Stan Sunday September 6.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia ahead of the premiere episode, Michael revealed the advice executive producer Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson gave him, that’s ‘always stuck’.
EXCLUSIVE ‘It’s always stuck with me’: Rising star Michael Rainey Jr. (left), 19, revealed the advice given by 50 Cent (right), as he lands the lead role in Power spin-off, BOOK II: Ghost
50 Cent is not only executive producer of the Power franchise, but also starred as Kanan Stark until season five.
‘Something he [50 Cent] told me when we were filming season three, when Kanan and Tariq first started hanging out, has always stuck with me,’ Michael said.
‘He said, “Don’t ever feel too entitled to anything, because that’s when you deprive yourself”. So I always keep that in mind.
‘Or don’t think something is always supposed to go your way, because that’s when you deprive yourself and make the situation even worse,’ he continued.
Both sides of the camera: 50 Cent is not only executive producer of the Power franchise, but also starred as Kanan Stark until season five. Pictured as Kanan
Michael revealed that with 50 Cent being known as a ‘jokester’, it wasn’t until the show’s creator, Emmy nominee Courtney A. Kemp, told him of his leading role in the first spin-off, that it really sunk in.
‘When I was first told by 50 that I was going to be the lead of the show, I honestly didn’t believe it,’ he recalled.
’50 was like, “You know you’re going to have your own show soon?” A month or two after that, Courtney told me. Then it got real. 50 is a jokester sometimes. But once Courtney told me, I was like “yeah”.’
50 Cent’s advice: ‘He said, “Don’t ever feel too entitled to anything, because that’s when you deprive yourself”. So I always keep that in mind,’ Michael, who plays Tariq St. Patrick on Power revealed in an interview with Daily Mail Australia
POWER BOOK II: GHOST picks up after the dramatic events of Power as Tariq St. Patrick grapples with a new world order: his father dead and his mother, Tasha, facing charges for the murder he committed.
Truly on his own for the first time in his life, Tariq is forced to split his time between school, where he has to attend to earn his inheritance, and hustling to pay for the defense lawyer who is Tasha’s only hope of getting out of jail.
Tariq turns to the familiar drug game, entangling himself with a cutthroat family headed by Monet Stewart Tejada, played by Mary J. Blige.
Focus on Tariq: POWER BOOK II: GHOST picks up after the dramatic events of Power as Tariq St. Patrick grapples with a new world order: his father dead and his mother, Tasha, facing charges for the murder he committed
New faces: Tariq turns to the familiar drug game, entangling himself with a cutthroat family headed by Monet Stewart Tejada, played by Mary J. Blige (pictured in character)
Michael told Daily Mail Australia that Tariq has ‘a lot of responsibility’ and ‘doesn’t have time to fold under pressure’.
‘He’s got to do what he has to do. He’s got to be the man of the family now,’ he said.
Having had a rather tumultuous relationship with his father, Michael revealed that Tariq starts to view Ghost in a different light in the spin-off.
‘He definitely learns his father more so [after his death]. He’s obviously going to look at him in a different way. Unfortunately he learns more about his father now, rather than before. He definitely sees that he has the hustle and ambition like his father.’
POWER BOOK II: GHOST premieres Sunday September 6 only on Stan. New episodes are released weekly, same day as the US.
Opportunity of a lifetime: Michael revealed that with 50 Cent being known as a ‘jokester’, it wasn’t until the show’s creator, Emmy nominee Courtney A. Kemp (pictured right with Michael), told him of his leading role in the first spin-off, that it really sunk in