The young actor spoke about his recurring role in ‘Power’ in a cover with ‘Cassius.’
Power series actor Michael Rainey Jr. sat with Cassius recently to discuss his longstanding role as Tariq St. Patrick in Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s hit series. Throughout the cover story, Rainey also touched on his upbringing, early career days, and — surprisingly — his fear of being typecast whenever he moves on from his recurring role on the Starz show.
“It’s definitely a thought in my head a lot,” he told the outlet. “With the time that I’ve taken to devote myself to this character, a lot of people, the audience, they haven’t seen me on the screen in a different space in a while, so that’s definitely a thought in my head. But as I said, you just got to keep working and obviously just knowing yourself and being confident in your work and knowing your talent and knowing what you can do with your talent.”
Refusing to let the possibility overwhelm him, he added: “You can never let those kinds of thoughts really weigh you down. And, at the end of the day, you got to know what you’re doing. Like I said, I knew what I wanted to do was kind of just: sit down, lockdown and devote myself to this character.”
Rainey has played the role of Tariq St. Patrick since 2014, alongside Omari Hardwick and Naturi Naughton. With the lead character Ghost (Hardwick) now gone, and Power Book II: Ghost approved for it’s fourth season, the 22-year-old has been leading the award-winning franchise for some time.
“I would definitely say maybe after season four, now that we’re about to start filming that, I would definitely say after season four’s hiatus I kind of feel myself very comfortable in Tariq’s shoes,” he expressed. “I’ve been playing the character for a long time, but now I find myself in a rhythm to where I’m not doing so much figuring out. And I kind of have the blueprint down pact.”
Speaking on stepping into other roles, the Staten Island-raised Jamaican descendant added, “Once I’m done with season four, I’ll definitely probably use that break and definitely step into some different roles to give the audience an opportunity to see me on the screen in a different space, rather than just as Tariq.”
“But as far as TV shows and movies go, I’m with it all. I’m ready for comedy,” he revealed. “I’m ready for action. I’m ready to step into any type of shoes. I’m ready. So whatever clothes I feel like wearing, if it feels right for me within the next year, I’m going to put in some work on it”
Aside from being in front of the camera, the seasoned actor also shared that he and fellow cast member Gianni Paolo have started their own production company called Twenty Two Entertainment. The pair, who are good friends off-screen, are working on “getting TV shows and films under the belt of that,” and “building the credibility of our production company.”
