The Power Universe, or as Twitter loves to call it, the Drug Dealing Cinematic Universe next chapter begins with the arrival of Tommy Egan’s (Joseph Sikora) spinoff show, Power Book IV: Force.
We lost James St. Patrick, aka Ghost (Omari Hardwick), thanks to a single bullet shot from a gun in the hands of his son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.), who is quickly learning he is indeed the apple of his father’s eye in his own spinoff show Power Book II: Ghost. But, we still have Tommy, one half of the dynamic drug dealing duo out here, and we finally get to see what life will be like for the character without his cocaine-slinging partner Ghost.
The show follows Tommy Egan, who fled NYC after finding the love of his life LaKeisha (La La Anthony) dead, almost killing Tasha and Riq in a quest for revenge and watching his best friend die. Initially, the hot-tempered Egan and his signature muscle car were on their way to sunny California before he decided to take a detour and head to Chicago to “close an old wound that’s been haunting him for decades.” Instead, Tommy quickly finds himself dealing with two rival crime families while rebuilding his drug-dealing criminal enterprise in the Windy City.
Source: Starz / Power Book IV: Force
Ahead of the show’s highly anticipated premiere, we spoke with Sikora. We asked the actor about getting his own Power-spinoff, Tommy’s Timbs, the character’s evolution, his favorite moment as Tommy, and of course, his show’s new theme song. Step into the interview below.
Cassius Life: When you first put on the Tommy signature black Timbs, did you ever imagine your character would have his own spinoff show?
Joseph Sikora: No, I didn’t think about it. I just showed up that day to work and have fun and make really strong and bold choices. And I think that that really paid off for me. And you know what’s funny? Tommy actually had two pairs of Timbs in season one. He didn’t just wear the black. He had his brown Timbs too.
CL: Man, we never noticed that. What happened to the brown Timbs?
JS: I don’t know what happened to the brown Timbs. I guess he came into his own and just said, “You know what? Black is enough for me.”
Source: Starz / Power Book IV: Force
No, I didn’t think about it. I just showed up that day to work and have fun and make really strong and bold choices. And I think that that really paid off for me.
CL: Yeah, We can’t lie. We think Tommy put the black Timbs on the map. It made us a fan of the black Timbs.
JS: Yep. I’ll take it. I got to give Frank Fleming credit for that; the costume designer who does an amazing job on all of the spinoffs and the original Power series.
CL: Yeah, you guys get all the ‘fits off in these shows. We can’t argue with that. You guys get a lot of the ‘fits off in these shows, so you’re absolutely right; credit to him. Now, what can viewers expect from this version of Tommy in Force compared to previous versions of Tommy?
JS: Well, I think that Tommy is just so alone in this spinoff. It’s the only spinoff that doesn’t take place within the five boroughs in New York, so Tommy really is a fish out of water. I love the new experiences of Tommy having nothing and having to recreate not only himself but a whole organization or at least an income line. And then also making the decision not to continue onto Los Angeles, but finding out, Chicago might have what I’m looking for—and having the guts, the courage, the wherewithal, and the presence to stay and make his own way.
Source: Starz / Power Book IV: Force
Well, I think that Tommy is just so alone in this spinoff. It’s the only spinoff that doesn’t take place within the five boroughs in New York, so Tommy really is a fish out of water. I love the new experiences of Tommy having nothing and having to recreate not only himself but a whole organization or at least an income line.
CL: True. Now, you’re still building moments with Tommy, but do you have a particular Tommy moment or any Power moment, for example, that’s a favorite one in your mind?
JS: One of them has to be one of the hardest days I ever had at work, and that was the Tommy kills Holly scene, which we did for 10 hours. Lucy Walters, who plays Holly on the show, is a tremendous actress that I have incredible respect for. And we really had to stay in that space. Just that scene took us 10 hours to film. So, it was exhausting. It was memorable. And I just remember the reaction from the audience was just tremendous and sad. And some people were cheering because they wanted Holly to go anyway. But it was just so full of emotion, and that really became a signature for Tommy, I think, at that point after Season Three, that we knew there was such an extreme color palette for Tommy, from the hardest of the hard to the softest. We saw him become a little child after that happened from so violent to this lost little kid who needed Ghost’s help to rectify the situation.
CL: True. Guilty. We were definitely part of the crowd that I was glad Holly’s Christmas was canceled.
JS: Christmas was canceled.
CL: And finally, Power’s theme songs are very important to the fans. And 50 Cent and Trey Songz found that out, unfortunately. And they had to go back to the original song. Your show introduces a new song [Power Powder Respect]. So what did you take on the new song? Do you think fans will really appreciate this version, this song for your show?
JS: Did you hear it?
CL: Yeah, we heard it.
JS: Straight fire. Fire. This song. Those bars hit hard. Come on. You’ve got Curtis 50 Cent Jackson, the embodiment of New York City, sandwiched by two Chicago legends of Jeremih and Lil Durk. I think it’s an incredible song. I have it on heavy rotation in a real way. So, I think the fans are going to love it. And it’s creepy. It’s the Grim Reapery. It’s Halloween. It’s Tommy’s coming. You better watch out. I just think that it’s perfect. And you got to give 50 Cent credit for coming up with another masterpiece.
There you have it.
You can watch Joseph Sikora as Tommy as he brings his Christmas canceling antics to Chicago in Power Book IV: Force Sunday, 9 pm EST only on Starz.
Photo: Starz / Power Book IV: Force
