It's tough to overstage the impact of "Power."
The series turned Starz into a must-watch cable network for many viewers, proved 50 Cent's instincts correct and along the way turned its characters into internet sensations and in some cases, household names.
While much of the show focused on Omari Hardwick's character, James "Ghost" St. Patrick, and his double life as a drug kingpin wanting to turn legit, its supporting cast proved equally compelling.
In this Friday, July 26, 2019 photo, Joseph Sikora poses for a portrait during the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. Sikora appears on “Power,” the Starz series that has turned into a ratings juggernaut and already sparked plans for a spinoff. The show begins airing its final season on Sunday, Aug. 25. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
Ahead of the show's sixth and final season premiere on Sunday, Hardwick and other cast members reflect on how "Power" changed their lives.
OMARI HARDWICK (James "Ghost" St. Patrick)
Omari Hardwick didn't want to play Ghost after reading script for "Power," because he was satisfied with being a backup co-star as he'd been on BET's "Being Mary Jane" and the films "Beauty Shop" and "Sparkle." But Hardwick's wife encouraged him to take on the lead role.
In this Friday, July 26, 2019, photo, Naturi Naughton poses for a portrait during the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. Naughton appears on “Power,” the Starz series that has turned into a ratings juggernaut and already sparked plans for a spinoffs. The show begins airing its final season on Sunday, Aug. 25. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
Best move ever.
Hardwick may not have had a problem landing roles before Power," but he's picked up even more in the last five years.
He's had prominent roles in "Sorry to Bother You," ''Nobody's Fool" and "A Boy. A Girl. A Dream." He's also filming "Army of the Dead," starring Ella Purnell, Dave Bautista and Garret Dillahunt.
None of those roles was similar to Hardwick's Ghost. The former college football said "Power" helped him land parts that showcased other facets of his acting.
"It's definitely been a launch pad for me," said Hardwick, 45, a native of Decatur, Georgia. "The great Al Pacino said, 'I'm unemployed after every job that was over.' He did alright for himself."
JOSEPH SIKORA (Tommy Egan)
Joseph Sikora has been acting for more than three decades, but his "Power" character stands as his most memorable one.
Sikora plays the gun-toting, cold-hearted Tommy who savors the drug world. He's also Ghost's best friend and business partner, who he often tries to convince to stay in the drug game.
Tommy is a fan-favorite, and given Sikora the most consistent acting work of his career.
"How has it changed my life? I'm able to pay my bills," he said. "I don't have to delegate where the money goes and decide on whether I'm paying the phone bill. Buying a gift for somebody's birthday or just draw them a card. It's nice to have options. It's good to know where your food is going to come from, and not get the day old vegetables from Chinatown."
But Sikora thought his breakout role would have led to more opportunities sooner.
"It was a much slower process than I was ready for," said Sikora, 43, who appeared in a McDonald's commercial as a teenager with Michael Jordan. The Chicago native starred on Broadway and has appeared in an array of TV shows including "Boardwalk Empire," ''Grey's Anatomy," ''True Detective" and the film "Shutter Island."
"I still audition. Unfortunately at a lower level than I was anticipating after the success of this show," he said. "But whatever it is, I'm never afraid of hard work."
It might be slower than Sikora hoped, but he's staying busy. During his "Power" tenure, he's starred in the film "The Intruder," as Frog Jack in the TV series "Underground" and will star in the upcoming "Jacob's Ladder" remake.
LELA LOREN (Angela Valdes)
Before Lela Loren was cast to play federal prosecutor Angela "Angie" Valdes, she was on the verge of moving in with her parents.
"That's not a thing anymore," said Loren, who auditioned for the role and was uncertain if she could land it. She had appeared in several TV shows including "CSI: Miami" and "Cold Case" along with a small film role in "The Hangover Part III."
But Loren said being a main character on "Power" changed the course of her career.
"You benefit from financial stability," she said. "With anyone who takes a creative path, there's such a hard road to navigate. Most of us had crazy odd jobs. I was a waitress forever."
In the show, Loren's character rekindles a relationship with Ghost, who she dated as a teen but ultimately discovers is married and a New York drug kingpin.
She's endured a lot of negative feedback, and threats, because her character was knowingly involved with a married man.
Loren said she's gone to therapy to cope.
"It's a lot," she said. "Maybe rationally you know that it's not real. But your body doesn't know. So you have to take care of yourself."
NATURI NAUGHTON (Tasha St. Patrick)
Naturi Naughton was best known for being one-third of the successful R&B girl group 3LW in the early 2000s. But now she's grown and being recognized for her rough-riding Tasha St. Patrick character on "Power."
Naughton was a teenage sensation with the group that included Adrienne Houghton (formerly Bailon) and Kiely Williams. She's had a number of acting roles, including portraying Lil Kim in the 2009 Biggie Smalls biopic "Notorious" and appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical "Hairspray."
She credits her role as Hardwick's gangster-minded wife with changing her life.
"I feel overwhelmed with gratitude," said Naughton, who auditioned four times before she landed the part. "This show gave me the opportunity to grow as a woman. I became a mother on this show. I bought my first home, because of this show. It's something I don't take lightly. 'Power' has really been powerful in my life."
Naughton said she is still trying to find acting gigs, but she's been in the studio on her days off recording her own album.
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MrLandrum31
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States vetoed a widely backed U.N. resolution Thursday that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor, the United States opposed and two abstentions, from the United Kingdom and Switzerland. U.S. allies France, Japan and South Korea supported the resolution.
The strong support the Palestinians received reflects not only the growing number of countries recognizing their statehood but almost certainly the global support for Palestinians facing a humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month.
The resolution would have recommended that the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, approve Palestine becoming the 194th member of the United Nations. Some 140 countries have already recognized Palestine, so its admission would have been approved, likely by a much higher number of countries.
U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that the veto “does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties."
The United States has “been very clear consistently that premature actions in New York — even with the best intentions — will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people,” deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.
His voice breaking at times, Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the council after the vote: “The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination.”
“We will not stop in our effort,” he said. “The state of Palestine is inevitable. It is real. Perhaps they see it as far away, but we see it as near.”
This is the second Palestinian attempt for full membership and comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at center stage.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authority’s application for U.N. membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didn’t get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Council’s 15 members.
They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state in 2012. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join U.N. and other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.
Algerian U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama, the Arab representative on the council who introduced the resolution, called Palestine’s admission “a critical step toward rectifying a longstanding injustice" and said that “peace will come from Palestine’s inclusion, not from its exclusion.”
In explaining the U.S. veto, Wood said there are “unresolved questions” on whether Palestine meets the criteria to be considered a state. He pointed to Hamas still exerting power and influence in the Gaza Strip, which is a key part of the state envisioned by the Palestinians.
Wood stressed that the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, where Israel and Palestine live side-by-side in peace, is the only path for security for both sides and for Israel to establish relations with all its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.
“The United States is committed to intensifying its engagement with the Palestinians and the rest of the region, not only to address the current crisis in Gaza, but to advance a political settlement that will create a path to Palestinian statehood and membership in the United Nations,” he said.
Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, reiterated the commitment to a two-state solution but asserted that Israel believes Palestine "is a permanent strategic threat."
"Israel will do its best to block the sovereignty of a Palestinian state and to make sure that the Palestinian people are exiled away from their homeland or remain under its occupation forever,” he said.
He demanded of the council and diplomats crowded in the chamber: “What will the international community do? What will you do?”
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have been stalled for years, and Israel’s right-wing government is dominated by hard-liners who oppose Palestinian statehood.
Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called the resolution “disconnected to the reality on the ground” and warned that it “will cause only destruction for years to come and harm any chance for future dialogue.”
Six months after the Oct. 7 attack by the Hamas militant group, which controlled Gaza, and the killing of 1,200 people in “the most brutal massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” he accused the Security Council of seeking “to reward the perpetrators of these atrocities with statehood.”
Israel’s military offensive in response has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and destroyed much of the territory, which speaker after speaker denounced Thursday.
After the vote, Erdan thanked the United States and particularly President Joe Biden “for standing up for truth and morality in the face of hypocrisy and politics.”
He called the Palestinian Authority — which controls the West Bank and the U.S. wants to see take over Gaza where Hamas still has sway — “a terror supporting entity.”
The Israeli U.N. ambassador referred to the requirements for U.N. membership – accepting the obligations in the U.N. Charter and being a “peace-loving” state.
“How can you say seriously that the Palestinians are peace loving? How?” Erdan asked. “The Palestinians are paying terrorists, paying them to slaughter us. None of their leaders condemns terrorism, nor the Oct. 7 massacre. They call Hamas their brothers.”
Despite the Palestinian failure to meet the criteria for U.N. membership, Erdan said most council members supported it.
“It’s very sad because your vote will only embolden Palestinian rejectionism every more and make peace almost impossible,” he said.
Algeria's Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Amar Bendjama speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour holds tears while speaking during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Representatives of member countries take votes during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour, left, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speak before a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Representatives of member countries take votes during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood votes against resolution during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
