A new episode of Raising Kanan is streaming on STARZ and fans are being treated to the ruthless ruling of two new characters.
Wendell Pierce has joined the Power universe as Ishmael “Snaps” Henry, a street legend drug dealer who’s a “retired” bank robber. He’s not alone however, he’s joined by Erika Woods who plays the calculated and cunning love of his life, Stephanie “Pop” Henry.
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***SPOILERS AHEAD***
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Snaps and Pop have agreed to invest in Ronnie to get him back into the drug game after his prison release. And while most people are petrified by the brooding brother of Unique (who also killed him and hid his body), Erika Woods told BOSSIP’s Managing Editor Dani Canada that Pop is far from afraid because she’s a “secret weapon.”
Source: “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” Season 3 / Starz
“Well, Pop and Ronnie have a little bit of history and I love kind of playing into that,” said Woods. “She’s not afraid of anyone. And I really like the mystery behind her she presents herself as one way,but she has this whole other agenda and she’s really quite smart and she was easy to base off of a few women in my life.”
She continued,
“You’re gonna be excited to see where Pop goes on her journey, I think people kind of downplay her like, ‘Oh, it’s just a woman. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.’ She’s kind of the secret weapon. She and Snap have this like hidden language and she plays into all that with her femininity [and] her confidence. But just as quick as she can give you some honey,it can turn sour. And I always thought that was a good weapon with women.”
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Wendell Pierce also spoke on playing Snaps, who’s a far cry from Detective Bunk, the iconic character he played on The Wire.
“That’s the the best thing about Snaps, he’s completely different,” he told BOSSIP. “You know an actor always wants to be as diverse and show range. I’m really happy about the comments. You know from people who say, ‘I’ve never seen you this way’ and I’m like that’s that’s a good thing. You don’t want to pigeonhole yourself. And so I love that about Snaps. He’s given me an opportunity to do something different and portray a character that most people haven’t seen in my career.”
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Elsewhere in the conversation, the two dished on the powerful female representation that includes Woods’ no-holds-barred portrayal of Pop and Patina Miller whose been enthralling fans with her portrayal of HBIC, Raquel Thomas.
“It really is also a great demonstration of Black women and the talent but the talent that young Black actresses have,” said Pierce.
Watch our #RaisingKanan exclusive with Erika Woods and Wendell Pierce.