There's a new series on the Starz Channel called Power that Courtney Kemp Agboh created and rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson executive-produced. It tells the story of James St. Patrick, nicknamed "Ghost," who owns a popular New York City nightclub. Ghost also balances a life in the drug world as well as a family that leads to drama.
Omari Hardwick plays that role and is known for movie roles including Sparkle, For Colored Girls and Kick Ass.
Chicago's own Joseph Sikora plays his best friend on the show. Along with being an ensemble member of the Shattered Globe Theatre Company locally, he's appeared in the movie Jack Reacher, Ghost World, and Rudy.
Windy City Times met up with the two over breakfast to discuss secrets of the new series.
Windy City Times: Hey, guys. Where are you both from?
Joseph Sikora: I'm from Chicago, the far West Side. I grew up in Norwood Park, right down from Bryn Mawr off the Kennedy by Taft High School.
WCT: Did you do a lot of theater growing up?
Joseph Sikora: I did a lot of theater such as the Lookingglass Theatre and I am an ensemble member of Shattered Globe. I did five plays at the Goodman. I did a play at their old space called Zoot Suit then did dueling shows at the new space.
Omari Hardwick: I am from Atlanta, Georgia. I was a University of Georgia football player and minored in theater. I was an artsy athlete that figured out that this was a way to make a living. I went to the San Diego Chargers and was there for a season before getting cut. Then I moved to New York and eventually Chicago where I did a workshop of August Wilson's Fences at the Goodman. I did Beauty Shop here at The Chicago Theatre. I lived here about five months then went back to New York and moved to LA in 1999.
WCT: Do you know the Real Housewives of Atlanta?
Omari Hardwick: I don't follow that crap I have been gone so long. I moved a long time ago and just visit family there now.
Joseph Sikora: But the Housewives don't move! [All laugh.]
WCT: Describe the show four our readers.
Omari Hardwick: It is a journey of two young men that are trying to maintain this life that we built. We were drug entrepreneurs at the highest level for the highest clientele in New York City. My character is trying to let that life go. It is the tug of war between trying to go straight and being legitimate with club ownership.
Our characters decide to clean the money in hiding it in these clubs. I get bit by the bug and I want to finish my dad's dream of running the club. Our characters were raised as brothers and made it out of poverty by becoming drug lords. I am married with three kids and my high school sweetheart comes back in.
It is a bromance, a love story about drugs, my wife and a new mistress.
WCT: Talk about your character, Joseph.
Joseph Sikora: For all intents and purposes, we are brothers. There is an unshakeable love and trust between us. The name of the nightclub is Truth. I think there is a real battle to understand what the truth is. The idea that will transcend for everyone to understand is the difficulty to figure out the truth and that change is hard.
My character, Tommy Egan, doesn't want to go in a different direction. I hold the other characters to their rules and there are consequences if they don't.
Omari Hardwick: He's the muscle of the show. Ghost trusts he's delegating to the right muscle. Even if it's mental muscle. Ghost taught himself to play chess. He's well learned but from the hood. Tommy reminds him where is from and to not get a mistress even if that is the club itself. Drugs are your lover so don't go get a club as a mistress.
Joseph Sikora: That's a beautiful point. You can't split that love. Why cheat on the drug game with this club?
WCT: The real club scene has changed so much.
Joseph Sikora: It is back in!
Omari Hardwick: It is massive, which is why it is so great for Courtney to make it part of the show. Chicago and Atlanta are such huge club and music cities. You have two actors that grew up with and understand the club life. The club game is so big that DJs are making 10 million dollars a year now. The timing is so great because people like to see a club on weekly television right now. Hiding money in clubs is kind of brilliant I don't think about it until I am sitting down speaking to folks like you.
WCT: Did you ever watch Boss, [which] was filmed in Chicago and on Starz?
Joseph Sikora: I did.
Omari Hardwick: I loved it. I just worked with Kelsey on a movie called Reach Me. We got really close and are still in contact. We became close over death. He has been through a lot of it as have I. He checks on me often and I love him as a person. I was blown away that the show was cancelled because it was his brilliant way to show he is more than a comedic actor.
Joseph Sikora: I was on Frasier so... Kelsey did a read-through of Manchurian Candidate with Shattered Globe Theatre, also.
Omari Hardwick: He's a talented cat.
WCT: How many tattoos do you have, Omari?
Omari Hardwick: I think about 20. There is only one that you see in the show. The creator, Courtney Kent Ogboh, liked it. I got those wings after losing a brother. That was my point with connecting with Kelsey on death.
Everything else is two hours a day to cover up when I do the take off the clothes scenes.
WCT: You had to wear the sock, right?
Omari Hardwick: Joe and I both had to wear the sock! [Laughs] You haven't seen that yet but he will be wearing the sock. What Curtis "50 Cent" likes to say is that to get this job you have to stand in front a female show creator and show your unit.
Joseph Sikora: She was very judgmental!
WCT: That's tough. The public relations people said there isn't a gay angle but there are hot guys in every scene.
Omari Hardwick: 50 will be taking off his clothes next season.
Joseph Sikora: Hold on second, there certainly is that angle in the show. That will be exposed if and when we have a second season. There are definitely characters that are all about it.
WCT: Tell me about working with 50 Cent.
Omari Hardwick: He was great to work with. It was obvious he had mastered so many other parts of his life. Musically he has been crucial for entire generation. We were skeptical if he could be successful on a premium network show shot like a movie. It can be taxing on a person that doesn't know that world. We were pleasantly surprised at his delegation of folks around him who he picked as producers.
Joseph Sikora: He's a great actor. He speaks the truth.
Omari Hardwick: He's really raw.
Joseph Sikora: Sometimes you watch someone that reminds you that you are watching television. He's not that guy. You are watching a human being speak the truth in that situation.
Omari Hardwick: He's not transparent. Joe and I both come from theater, as you now know, and even if you don't have the type of training that we have 50 brings a level of truth that you look for and can't teach in acting class. He's got that thing that made him successful as a musician.
Some rappers are fake to me but he is real. We were there to support him and I would drive out to Long Island where his scenes were shot. He's incarcerated so his scenes are condensed into two days. There are so many people that are fake so it is nice to work with people like Joe and 50 that make me feel like I'm drinking water!
WCT: You must all be excited for the show to come out.
Omari Hardwick: We feel we have a winner of a show. Not to be pretentious but back to the point that the people around it are real. When you take that normalcy and put it in a make believe world we hope it sticks around for a long time.
Joseph Sikora: With Starz we are set up to take it to that next level. With Courtney, 50, and Omari they all set the bar really high. Hopefully we are embraced and I think we have a good shot!
Power parties every Saturday on Starz. Comcast Cable streams Power on any device.