By
Derek Lawrence
July 20, 2021 at 10:45 AM EDT
Tommy's coming.
We've gotten six seasons of
Power and two spin-offs so far, but franchise mastermind
Courtney Kempknows what fans have been waiting for. "The Tommy spin-off, that's a crowd-pleaser," she says of
Power Book IV: Force. "It's Tommy, come on now. That's the Buffalo wings and ranch fries of the universe, everybody wants some."
Set to premiere in 2022,
Force picks up in the aftermath of the tragic events of
Power's final season, following fan favorite Tommy (
Joseph Sikora) as he leaves New York and the remaining St. Patricks behing. His best friend Ghost (Omari Hardwick) dying in his arms at the hand of Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) has left Tommy a "shell of a man," Sikora tells EW. Well, he better put himself back together or his new city, Chicago, and its criminal underworld will tear him apart.
"We're seeing how Tommy became Tommy — but after he lost everything," Sikora says. "What does he do when he has nothing? How does he make things work?"
Omari Hardwick and Joseph Sikora on 'Power'| Credit: Myles Aronowitz/Starz
As part of
EW's deep dive into the ever-expanding Power universe, we talked to Sikora about continuing his
Power journey, feeling honored by the response to Tommy, and exploring what happens when the ultimate New Yorker leaves New York.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How's filming on Force going so far?
JOSEPH SIKORA: Power Book IV is going great, we're loving filming in Chicago. We started in February, so we're halfway through the season. The city has been really gracious and open to us, and the fans have definitely been coming out to visit the set and see Tommy Egan. The finale of
Ghostwas the last time Tommy popped up, so I think people are getting hungry — and it's nice to see they're still out there. I feel truly blessed every day at work because I've never been with quite such a cohesive cast before, so I'm super-grateful.
What's the experience been like now being No. 1 on the call sheet and knowing how far you've come with Tommy? Was that first day on Force pretty surreal?
I wouldn't use the word "surreal." Maybe I'm a little bit more even-keeled than a lot of people, but I take everything in stride and remain eternally grateful. I always say fun is my default, so I'm just having a really great time. We left him a shell of a man in
Power. We're picking up for all intents and purposes after
Power [season 6, episode 13], and Tommy is leaving New York in the rearview mirror and heading out to California and makes a detour and gets caught up in Chicago, the City of Big Shoulders, the Hog Butcher of the World, the City in a Garden.
How do you think
Powerbecome such a powerful force that we're on three spin-offs and counting? And yes, puns intended!
I think that our creators
Curtis "50 Cent'" Jackson and Courtney Kemp are brilliant storytellers, and they tap into the heartbeat of the culture. Because it's told so truthfully, accurately, and celebrates the diversity of the urban environment, the story really transcends. The original
Power show,
Power Book Ias I guess we're referring to it now, was shown in at least 178 different countries. So just to know that you have a product that not only transcends African American culture in the United States of America, but it transcends American culture and really becomes world culture.
What was it that originally drew you to Power and Tommy?
50 Cent. It was a 50 Cent product, and I was a fan. But even more than that, I'm a journeyman actor — I've been in the Screen Actors Guild since 1988, this is what I do. So it was a job, and the challenge of every job is to create a 360-degree, fully functional human being that makes extreme choices, because nobody ever wrote a play or a TV show about an ordinary day. I love playing Tommy. It's just a never-ending fun video game for me. It never gets old.
When did you realize the show had become a thing?
It hit us right after the first season. I knew that it was really connecting for the audience and that the
Powerfans were passionate about the show. That was really amazing to see, just how passionate they were about the show on every level, for good and for bad. [
Laughs] Celebrating and crying and just seeing how it affected them. And people were saying, "I watch this show with my mother and my grandmother." I think that's a rarity. It brought me back to my childhood of shows that I would watch with my parents, with my grandma. So I thought was really special, when you can have something that is intergenerational. That is truly what made me go, "Wow, this show is next-level, I hope we keep going." And we kept going — and we're still going!
Do you remember when Courtney first mentioned to you the idea of doing a Tommy series, and what your initial reaction was to the thought?
50 had mentioned right towards the end that there was the possibility of a spin-off, and Courtney certainly echoed the possibility of that. And I thought there was a lot more Tommy story to tell, because we had a story of two brothers and then one of the brothers was killed, so there is a very natural progression of the
Powerstory into the Tommy story. It's really the next natural step in the storytelling of this world, so I was happy when it came to be, and once again, just grateful. I think remaining eternally grateful always feels like the appropriate place to be.
Courtney seems confident that Force will be the "crowd-pleaser" of the new shows. What does it mean to you to have brought to life a character that has become so beloved? He's easily thefan favorite in a franchise with so many memorable characters.
Again, I keep using the word "grateful," but I am so grateful. We're filming
Power Book IVand people are just yelling, "Yo, Tommy!" Or they see the Mustang and they're like, "Where's Tommy?!" To have somebody that is iconic in that way, it just makes your heart that much bigger. And to be a white actor, knowing we made this show with African Americans leads, and to have transcended race and been accepted by the culture, it's a true honor. I always say that is better than any award that I could ever possibly win. I already won.
at a young age
Someone had to pay for Buck20 death 
he was claiming to be the one who killed him in the 1st place. 
he bout to start fukking with the PAwg from the club. 
@ the detail they put into the Polo/ Lo-Life convo.
