Tony Danza Reveals Stefano Had The Hots For Raq

Danza was initially hesitant to play the Italian mob boss stereotype, but was convinced by his friend and fellow actor Michael Rispoli.
Stefano's involvement with Raq's business is partly driven by his attraction to her, clouding his judgment.
Danza is proud of his performance and believes the final season of the show will be 'wacky' and exciting for viewers.

Tony Danza is best known for playing nice guys like Tony Micelli in Who’s the Boss? or Tony Banta in Taxi, but to take on the role of Stefano in Power Book III: Raising Kanan, he had to show us a different side that many fans didn’t know he was capable of.

Mr. Danza spoke with CassiusLife about taking on the role of Stefano in the Power spinoff series that is currently in its final season.

Tony Danza Revealed He Didn’t Originally Want The Role of Stefano

During the interview, he revealed that he didn’t immediately jump at the role because of the “Italian tropes” that come with playing a mob boss. Still, it took some convincing from his friend and fellow actor Michael Rispoli, who is known for playing roles in the classic HBO mob series, The Sopranos.

“Well, when I got the call to go in, my agent called and said, “Hey, they got this scene for you.” And I’ll be honest with you, I sometimes think about the Italian trope, so I was not sure because that’s one of the things… I haven’t had to do that,” Danza told CassiusLife. “A lot of my friends always say, ‘Hey, that’s what we get to do.” But it was with Michael Rispoli, who was the other actor, who’s a friend and a good, really terrific actor. And I liked the writing. I know the territory, you know what I mean? I’m from New York. So I went in, and I just had the best time doing it. It was a lot of fun. And then, I came home, and I called my agent.”

He continued, “I said, ‘They’re never going to buy me as the bad guy.” And then he called me back, and he said, “No, they want you to come back to the show.” And so, somehow I pulled it off, so I’m really proud of it. And I’ll be honest with you, I’m not kidding you. I think it’s one of the best shows on TV. I wish people had seen it from the beginning, but I’m glad that they made… I’ll tell you, this fifth season’s pretty wacky. Yeah. I was telling people that during the readings, every reading that we had when we’d read the script, there’d be a lot of, “Holy. No. You’re kidding. Oh, my gosh.” So I’m psyched. I’m psyched for people to see it.

Tony Danza Reveals Stefano’s Reasoning For Working With Raq

An older man with white hair smiling, and two people, a woman in a black dress and an older man, sitting at a table with wine glasses. — Tony Danza / Power Book III: Raising Kanan

During our conversation with the iconic actor, we touched on the friction between the old-school mafia types like Stefano and the new generation of hustlers like Raq (Patina Miller) and her crew.

Danza explained that despite Stefano claiming he wanted nothing to do with Raq’s business, he couldn’t help but get involved, and that his judgment was clouded due to Raq’s attractiveness.

“Well, he [Stefano] starts by saying, ‘I want nothing to do with them, nothing to do with that.” But then, at the end, he’s totally in it. So I think one of the things that probably kept him around was the fact that he could adapt. And so, here he is adapting to what’s happening in South Jamaica.”

He continues, “And I’ll be honest with you too, Bernard, I think he had a thing for Raq. So that was the other thing that messed him up because all of a sudden, it wasn’t just clear thinking. That’s all. There was something else going on. I really do.”