‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’: Patina Miller Rejects Calling It a Gangster Show
Power Book III: Raising Kanan is the origin story of Kanan Stark. In the original Power, Kanan was a drug dealing gangster, so Raising Kanan will necessarily lead him down that path. However, Patina Miller, who plays Kanan’s mother Raquel, rejects the label of “gangster” show.
Miller was on a Television Critics Association panel with co-star Mekai Curtis and creator Sascha Penn on Aug. 11. When asked about the genre of gangster stories, Miller pushed back. Power Book III: Raising Kanan airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Starz.
Why ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ is not a gangster show
On the surface, Raising Kanan may feature the tropes of gangster movies. It takes place on the streets in the world of crime, and it is a prequel to the show Power which fans have seen. However, Miller sees it differently.
“I tend to steer away from calling it a gangster or whatever,” Miller said. “What it is is a group of people who are in a set of circumstances. We happen to be in the ’90s. We happen to be at a time where people are making choices. People are doing what they have to do. Raquel is a CEO of a business. We can say it’s in the criminal world but it’s no different from any of those other films. She’s a single mother. That is, for me, how I connected to the piece, and finding her strength in being the matriarch of a family.”
‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ is more of a family drama
Since she plays Kanan’s mother, Miller can see the show as more of a family drama than its predecessor. The characters in Power had families too, but Raising Kanan focuses directly on Raquel and Kanan’s relationship.
“At the end of the day, it’s a family drama that has elements of crime and elements of all of those different things,” Miller said. “What you’re seeing is this strong woman who wants so desperately to make something for herself. Nobody’s going to give it to her. If she could have been the CEO of a business she would have been, but these are the cards that have been dealt, and she’s choosing to play the game her way, and she’s also raising the son. And she’s trying to leave him a legacy, and she’s also trying to get him to not to make the same mistakes but, along the way, these things happen.”
Raquel is a first in this world
Penn looked back at the classic gangster films, from black and white noirs to The Godfather. Raquel is unique in that realm.
“You name Edward G. Robinson or James Cagney or we can talk about Michael Corleone, what we haven’t seen is a Black woman inhabit that space in this way,” Penn said. “That’s what makes, I think, this character resonate for our audience in a way we haven’t seen before. There’s a throughline but there’s also a difference, and I think that’s where the opportunity is.”
Miller also discussed Raquel standing up to powerful gangsters.
“So I think for me when I get into it, it’s sort of finding that strength in Raq but also the vulnerability in her,” Miller said. “She has this unwavering strength that she’s not afraid to be in a room with any of these people and she holds strong to her power.
