Michael Rainey Jr. says he’s “most proud” of Tariq’s evolution on ‘Power,’ ‘Power Book II: Ghost’

Michael Rainey Jr. is back as Tariq, the star of Power Book II: Ghost. The fourth season premiered on Friday, and as one of few characters from the original Power, he says he’s “most proud of” Tariq’s development over the years.  

“When they first told me this was going to be, you know, a spin-off about Tariq, I’m like, mmm, nah, this not, this not going to work, y’all,” Michael recalls to ABC Audio. “I don’t know if y’all should roll the dice on that.”

“But, you know, they believed in it. They believed in me. And, you know, we made it happen,” he continues. “We made the fans kind of like a little 180 when it comes to Tariq. But I was definitely nervous about that. So now that it was a success, I’m definitely proud of that.”

Though Tariq has grown from a young boy everyone hated to a young man fans are rooting for, he can’t seem to escape the comparisons against his late father, Ghost.

“I think that they’re very, very similar. Basically the same. But the difference is Tariq kind of saw with his father, you know, where his father went wrong. And I feel like he learned from that,” Michael says.

Power Book II: Ghost airs on Starz, with Tariq butting heads with most of the cast this season. Switching from a fun to hostile environment, however, wasn’t a hard transition for Michael to make on set.

“I love these people,” he says of the cast. “So it’s like, it ain’t nothing … I just be snapping in and out of it.”