How does one say goodbye to a role that’s become a throwback icon, master of the mob wife aesthetic and just an all-around badass? Just ask Patina Miller.
“Actually, no lies, I knew in season 4, before we got greenlit for five, how it would come to an end. I’ve been sitting with that for many months and trying to come to terms with the finale of Raquel and my time on the show,” the actress, who just finished her reign as the ruthless drug queen Raquel “Raq” Thomas on Power Book III: Raising Kanan, shared with EBONY.
“I was excited, sad; I had so many things running through my head. But it was an awesome last script when I finally read the actual script. I remember us doing the table read for it on Zoom, and there was a lot of emotion.”
Just like all the twists and turns on Power Book III, which told of Kanan Stark’s rise from a young boy to a ruthless drug kingpin, the series behind the scenes was also a bit of a rollercoaster ride.
“We were showing up for everyone being so excited to start the show, filming our first episode, and then going into a pandemic, and then picking up after the pandemic, then going into an actors’ strike. We’ve just had so many ups and downs,” Miller emphasized.
“But what stayed was just the love that everyone had for the role and creating these characters and telling the story,” she said. “I’m so blessed and so thankful that I got the opportunity to play and go places, and be afraid, and do things that challenged and excited me at the same time, and just have fun.”
She’ll miss Raq’s resilience, attitude, her strength, tenacity and the charm, “how she took up space and was unapologetic about who she was and the things that she wanted, that ferociousness,” Miller surmised.
“And that she was fashion queen while terrorizing the street.”
But that part? Miller is keeping with her.
“I walked away with the two-finger ring, some bamboo earrings, a couple of bombers, and I took a catsuit, obviously. I really wanted the staples of what made her who she was,” Miller revealed.
“I don’t ever want to part with the sunglasses. When I put them on in the first episode, it really made me drop into my character.”
And then there’s that coat. “Her fabulous, iconic coat when you first see her walking the streets of New York—how powerful the coat was. I might pop out with it on the train,” she declared with a chuckle. “Really, it’s just in the closet to remind me of how proud I am of playing such an iconic character.”
Raquel’s reign has come to an end, but Miller still rises. The Broadway veteran will be back on stage this fall, starring in the Broadway production of School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, written by Tony-nominated playwright Jocelyn Bioh.
“Jocelyn is one of those writers that I’ve been just looking for the moment, hoping that we would work together; she has been doing fantastic work,” Miller declared to EBONY a few days before the explosive series finale episode of Raising Kanan aired.
“Taking that Black girl magic and doing it on Raising Kanan for such a long time, to finally go back to the stage, my roots, and be able to be a part of this incredible ensemble of Black women telling this story, saying Jocelyn’s words and being directed by Whitney White feels pretty incredible.”
Of course, Kanan’s story lives on in the next Power Book: Origins. And Miller has words for her son and his chosen life path.
“I think her prayer would be for guidance and for a change for him, because she knows the road that he’s going down, and she knows that, for every gangsta who chooses to have this sort of life, the repercussions are not gonna be good,” she stated.
“Her goal has always been to watch over him, protect him, and keep him safe…and keep him safe from himself.”
Catch Miller in School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in New York City beginning September 8.