This week’s episode of Powerbook II: Ghost featured the arrest of Tariq St. Patrick for the murder of Jabari Renolds. At the scene of the arrest, Brayden was there to witness it. After that scene played out, there will be some questions that will carry over to the next few episodes.
In this exclusive interview, Brayden himself Gianni Paolo talks about that scene and much more about this season of Powerbook II: Ghost!
The Knockturnal: Tariq was arrested the moment he went back to the campus and the first person he saw was Brayden. Do you think the general discussion will shift from him being arrested to Brayden possibly telling the police that the badge belonged to Tariq?
GP: “I guess it could be. It could be perceived that way. I do not think he wouldn’t get anything out of it, in my opinion, but you never know. So yeah, I think I actually like the way how in the Power universe, it’s like anything could be anybody. Like sometimes they’ll frame, it can be like, ‘Oh, well, it could have been this’ kind of like what they did in the final season of Power. When Ghost died, they promoted the last few episodes like ‘Oh, who? Who killed Ghost? It could have been this person.’ So that’s what I kind of love about Power. They do a really good job of making the drama and being like, ‘Oh, who actually did it?’ I think at the end of this, it’s kind of like no one really knows what’s going on.”
The Knockturnal: This season we also saw Brayden with Cane again. Last season, he gave him a test of trouble and he passed, and this season, he did it again with digging up the officer’s body. So what are the conversations between yourself and Woody like when the both of you are preparing for these scenes?
GP: “I love working with Woody. He’s so much fun. Michael Rainey Jr. is obviously one of my best friends in the world. The second we get the set, there’s chemistry and we already know what we’re doing, what we’re getting into. But with Cane (Woody McClain) is kind of like a wild card because those scenes are kind of crazy. Every time I get on the set and I work with him, we’re doing something wild. So I love working with him because it’s just such a great switch up from the scenes that I have with Tariq or the normal scenes that I have with my family. And obviously it’s always action packed, which I love filming and doing too. So, yeah, working with Woody, He’s great, he’s unbelievable. He’s probably one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with. So, you know, we just have a great we have great chemistry and obviously the fans see that.”
The Knockturnal: There was an interesting scene between yourself and Michael where you two used the mechanical brick wall to hide the product and to exchange. Do you have any stories of how that was built because I was convinced that was a normal wall.
GP: “I got to the set and it was already built and they had showed me it. I’m an actor. And because of that, I don’t know how to build stuff like that. So it always kind of blows my mind when you read it on the script and you’re like, ‘Good luck’ because I don’t know how this is going to come out. And then once I put the phone up to that thing that popped out., I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy.’ So yeah, it was kind of cool how they did that. It’s wild to me because I don’t know anything about that world of engineering. And I saw it and I was like ‘Wow, this is nuts ‘ And everyone loved it, too. Everyone thought it was genius. Everyone’s like Brayden is really stepped it up, but I didn’t build it. But you know!”
The Knockturnal: BMF is also another successful show on STARZ and Powerbook II: Ghost has had a ton of success as well. It seems like the fans are putting the shows against each other regardless of one being fiction and another being non-fiction. What is your stance on this from the fans of both shows?
GP: “It’s a great show and I love it. It’s just that I don’t even think there really is a competition. It’s just kind of 50 Cent, you know, doing what 50 Cent does. And it’s smart. It’s a genius move because everyone’s just talked about it. And obviously, if you saw me and Meech Jr. on Instagram, you saw that we were going back and forth. Me and Michael Rainey Jr and everyone that whole day, all four of us were posting each other. We got on the Shade Room and it was on everywhere. So it was just a lot of fun like, we’re just kind of, you know, throwing digs at each other. And it’s great. The fans love it. The fans have fun and they feel like they’re involved in it. It’s great. You know, we have no bad blood with them, like it’s just kind of all fun and games. And it’s just great for the shows and I love it. I love the competition, you know? I’m a competitive kid. I grew up playing sports. I’m always like ‘Now we’re better. We’re better!'”
