Five years ago, television creator Courtney A. Kemp teamed up with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and delivered a massive mega-hit drama for Starz. Over the past five seasons of Power, La La Anthony’s Lakeisha Grant has slowly taken center stage. Since it first premiered in 2014, the series has exploded and become the most-watched cable drama following HBO’s Game of Thrones. The compelling epic centers James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick). Ghost is a New York drug kingpin turned club owner desperately trying to turn legit and shed his criminal past. However, dismissing your past is easier said than done, especially if death, dirt and blood are lurking in the shadows.
Though Ghost anchors Power, the women in the show are the ones who have shifted, guided and changed the course of the narrative. There’s Angela Valdes (Lela Loren)–an assistant district attorney and Ghost’s childhood sweetheart who finds herself enamored with ex-lover again. Ghost’s now-estranged wife, Tasha St. Patrick (Naturi Naughton)–has sacrificed nearly everything for her husband, and is seeking revenge. Then there is La La Anthony’s Lakeisha, who has had one of the most transformative character arcs on the series.
When we first meet Lakeisha in Season 1, she’s just Tasha’s best friend. A hairstylist and single mom–Lakeisha values her friendship with Tasha, but she also envies the lavish lifestyle that the St. Patricks live. However, what she soon discovers is that even the most lavish lives can be built amidst smoke and mirrors. As the seasons have pressed forward– we’ve watched Lakeisha get further entangled into Ghost and Tasha’s dark work. Though she’s found “love” with Tommy (Joseph Sikora), Ghost’s oldest friend–a volatile and murderous drug dealer, her relationship with Tasha and her business have suffered along the way.
Image: Starz.
Ahead of the premiere of the final season of Power, STYLECASTER sat down to chat with Anthony about Lakeisha journey.
“I think that love is a funny thing,” Anthony revealed–reflecting on Lakeisha and Tommy’s bond. “At times, it makes us do crazy things, and Lakeisha is no different. She wants to prove to her man that, ‘I’m built for this, I’m cut out for this.’ There are consequences that come anytime we step into that lifestyle. But, as women sometimes love blinds us, and we make crazy decisions. This character is no different.”
Though Lakeisha has been circling Tasha, Ghost and Tommy’s inner circle from the beginning–this season she’s going to ger her first real taste of their dark world. “I think she’s a little naive to it,” Anthony reflected. “I remember there was a scene where she asks [Tommy], ‘But you never killed anyone right?’ So she knows, but she doesn’t really know, and I think this season, she starts actually seeing what that lifestyle really is about. When she finally realizes what it is–there’s no turning back.”
Watch STYLECASTER’s complete interview with La La Anthony–we chatted the final season of Power, the forthcoming Power prequels and how this six season-long journey will conclude.
The final season of Power premieres Aug. 25, 2019.