Power: How hard was it playing Ghost St Patrick? Omari Hardwick opens up

Starz series Power is going to be branching out with several spin-offs. The gangster drama set in New York developed a huge fan following after its debut in 2014. Power put its main stars in the spotlight including Omari Hardwick as James “Ghost” St Patrick, the corner boy trying to follow the straight and narrow.

Power propelled Hardwick into the spotlight and marked the American actor and spoken word poet’s biggest role to date.

Previously, Hardwick had parts in TV series Being Mary Jane, True Blue and Saved.

However, playing the fictional drug dealer-turned-businessman saw Hardwick placed firmly front and centre.

In a recent interview with Essence, the star reflected on the trickier elements of portraying such a mercurial and multi-faceted character.

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He said: “The thing that made it difficult to play it [Ghost]—was not being seen, which was weird for me.

“Because I had always been seen in life. But now I’m excited people are finally seeing the guy behind the guy.”

The actor admitted the “hardest part” of the job was “perception is reality” for some fans, saying he didn’t want viewers to confuse him with the character.

Hardwick has been nominated for a number of awards for his portrayal of Ghost, including a BET Award and winning a NAACP Image Award last year.

Therefore, it’s not hard to see why his critically-acclaimed performance as Ghost may have left some confusing the character with real life.

Going into the final series of Power, Hardwick explained on Popcorn with Peter Travers how Ghost was the opposite of Walter White from Breaking Bad.

Ghost was trying to find a redemptive and legitimate path when he was killed. Ghost was “breaking good” after starting off bad.

Hardwick summed him up as “both the hero and the antihero” of Power with both good and bad elements.

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The star said his own perceptions and identity fed into portrayal having grown up in a majority black town in Georgia and attending a predominantly white high school.

He said: “Coming to a character like Ghost, it afforded me the things that were in me to be actually exposed.”

Indeed, Power’s showrunner Courtney A. Kemp has even spoken about the passion of the fanbase.

She wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “It’s so real for some viewers, in fact, that people sometimes mix fact with fiction.”

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Power is very much a fictional endeavour although some of the show has felt real to the viewers at home, who relate strongly with the events depicted onscreen.

Kemp explained: “While Ghost’s classic hero’s journey is the center [sic] of the show, I think the success of the series lies in the reality of the world we created.

“Our core audience knows the Ghosts, Tommys and Kanans of the world.

“Women say to me all the time, ‘I am Tasha’ or, ‘I’ve been LaKeisha’.”

She added: “I can tell you Angela is based on some of my own mistakes.”

Power season 6 is available to watch on the Starz app and Netflix UK now

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