Caroline Chikezie Addresses Noma Prequel Buzz, Shares Insight Into Shooting Steamy Love Scenes in ‘Power Book II: Ghost’ — Deadline Q&A
SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from Starz‘s Power Book II: Ghost series finale.
When the Starz drama series Power Book II: Ghost introduced the character of Noma in Season 3, no one could’ve guessed her impact on the show’s characters — not even Caroline Chikezie, who brought the character to life.
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In the male-dominated industry of drugs, guns and all things illegal, it’s rare to have a woman create the level of chaos that men do, but to surpass it is quite a feat. And Ghost had two women in the business making men quake: Noma and day-one baddie Monet, played by Mary J. Blige.
“Could you imagine if they had teamed up instead of fighting each other?” Chikezie said of Noma and Monet during a recent chat with Deadline about the show’s finale.
The women certainly had a lot in common: they were fearless mothers who wanted the best for their children but whose jobs and way of life brought danger and destruction to everyone they loved. For Noma, she saw her daughter Anya (Sydney Winbush) murdered in cold blood just steps away from safety. A shattered Noma held her in her arms as she took her last breath. As much as Noma loved her child, she was as good as dead at that moment. Chikezie expands on this and more in our Q&A below.
DEADLINE: We think we knew Noma so well until that moment in the finale when she revealed how and why she got into the business. Why was this so important for viewers to know?
CAROLINE CHIKEZIE: That’s her villain origin story. As you can see from that scene, she’s actually a victim herself. She learned of the family business at the age of 10, as she says in the scene where a rival gang burst into their family home and they butchered her mother right in front of her. So of course, with that amount of trauma, it’s not surprising that Noma has turned out the way she did. I can’t imagine what witnessing something as horrific as that at such a tender age could do. In her mind, she had the choice to become a victim, or rise above it and be so powerful, so formidable that nobody ever tests me again. She’s been traumatized and has vowed never to let that happen again.
DEADLINE: Not only did Noma survive but she thrived.
CHIKEZIE: That’s exactly right. She’s a victim of circumstance, but she decided to take that and empower herself to propel herself forward. As with many victims of trauma, she’s been able to compartmentalize a lot of it. So that’s why people may say, “Oh, you’re very dishonest to your daughter.” It’s compartmentalization to be able to live and survive. Because if she were to relive the trauma daily, she wouldn’t be able to function.
DEADLINE: Noma has an important conversation with Anya in the finale that was a long time coming. When Anya is upset her mother shields her from the bad in the world because she believes mom was protecting her image, she learns from Noma that the only opinion that matters is Anya’s. Why did this conversation take so long to happen?
CHIKEZIE: That’s the first time they had an honest conversation. Noma has been lying repeatedly to Anya but to Noma, it was to protect her daughter. But it was only a matter of time before Anya would catch wind that something was amiss and she would want answers. This was their first heart-to-heart, and Anya could see that her mother, for once, had stopped lying. So when Noma said, “I don’t care about any of this. It’s you I’m trying to protect,” that did connect with Anya. She just needed time to process. Anya does say something horrible to her mother but they soon have forgiven each other. You see the smiles on their faces and they’re about to reconcile but by then it’s too late. It’s absolutely tragic and great writing on the part of the writers, the way they weaved that all in.
DEADLINE: Do you think in those final moments of life, Noma had any regrets?
CHIKEZIE: Absolutely. In those final moments, I felt like she wasn’t afraid to die. In fact, I think she found it preferable because Anya was everything to her. Without Anya, is it worth it? When they killed her daughter, her soul left her body. And that was why when her brother stormed off, she opted not to go with him. I think it was a relief for her to die, actually. In her final moments, she reflected on the seriously bad choices she made and how it all led to this, “It’s unbearable, and I don’t want to be here anymore.” So yeah, she would definitely go back and do things differently and have a more honest and open relationship with her daughter.
DEADLINE: Can you think back to Season 3 when we first met Noma and discuss how you approached the role?
CHIKEZIE: When I first got the script it was a real page-turner. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It’s incredibly rare for a woman in this industry to get such a multifaceted boss role. It felt like such a gift. I found my inspiration for Noma in Denzel Washington’s Frank Lucas in American Gangster. With so few female boss roles, I was inspired by a male. There was also Monet, of course, portrayed by the excellent Mary J. Blige. She was another source of inspiration. But to find that steeliness and everything I was looking for, it was in the permission to be unapologetic when doing some pretty gruesome things, and I had to own it. If I was doing it, I couldn’t hesitate or it would come across as weak. I had to get fully comfortable being this villain of a character, and I did that by justifying everything she did. I made it make sense. Without that, you’re judging the character you’re playing and it closes you up. Nobody wants to be perceived as a bad person, right? But when you’re playing a character, you commit and do whatever it takes. What worked for me was understanding what motivates her, and permitting myself to portray her without judging her, loving her, and being sympathetic towards her.
DEADLINE: Noma committed some pretty heinous acts during her time on the show. Were there any moments that were the most shocking to portray?
CHIKEZIE: The most shocking moment was when she killed Monet. Yeah. When I read the script, I gasped out loud, it was so chilling. And even her trying to get Cane (Woody McClain) to turn against his mother was very shocking for me as well. I love Mary J. Blige and her portrayal of Monet. She’s incredible. But I knew that if Noma [killed Monet] then Noma had to go.
DEADLINE: Why was Cane the right person to kill Noma?
CHIKEZIE: He was absolutely the right person to pull the trigger. In episode 9, Cane believed Noma that he was relatively safe in this marriage and that he was a majority shareholder. The way she turned on him, the betrayal of it all — and on their wedding day! She couldn’t even wait a few days. And for her to take his mother out like that, he was the right person to pull the trigger on her to avenge his mother’s death. He was blaming himself, which I think he should have because he didn’t listen to his mum when she warned him that Noma was no good. He didn’t believe her. He chose to go along with Noma, and you saw how it played out. But Woody, I love Woody so much. He’s such a gem and an incredible scene partner. I loved working with him, Michael, Method and Mary. There were so many nice, wonderful actors who are family moving forward. There was so much love on that show which I never expected. I never expected such a warm reception and so much love and support. I’m so honored that I was invited to participate in such a great show. For the opportunity, I’d like to thank Courtney A. Kemp, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Brett Mahoney, Mark Canton, and Chris Selal.
DEADLINE: Have you already said goodbye to Noma?
CHIKEZIE: Oh yeah, I’m shedding. I had a process through which, whilst I was filming, I would go home and decompress and release. Going to work every day, getting up in people’s faces, and being a badass, it’s not easy. Work like that takes a toll. I almost felt guilty to everyone whose faces I was getting in and I would always apologize after each take. When I’d go home, I would soak in Epsom salts. I would also do something called flotation therapy deprivation in a tank. It’s you in a tank with Epsom salts and you float; it’s sensory deprivation. There’s no sound, there’s no sight, and you just float for like two hours at a time. I would go for walks, I would sage, I would pray, and try to take care of myself, sleep, and heal — then go back and do it all again the next day.
DEADLINE: Though Noma got into plenty of bad situations, she also got into some fun steamy moments with Cane and Davis, played by the legendary Method Man. What insight can you give as to what goes into those scenes?
CHIKEZIE: My goodness. So first of all, I want to thank God I had to do that scene with such an absolute gentleman [Method Man]. He was so protective and made sure that I was okay. We had our boundaries in place and an intimacy coordinator on set. Even with all that, it was still very wild, kind of racy, behind the scenes of it all. I mean, it’s not as wild as it looks on screen, because obviously behind the scenes, there’s the whole production, the whole crew watching you. I had boob tape on and he had a little protection. I think both of us were like, let’s get this done as quickly as possible. Let’s just do this. [Laughs]
DEADLINE: Both you and your husband, Bel-Air‘s Adrian Holmes, are actors. Does that help with understanding when your partner has to participate in love scenes for work?
CHIKEZIE: The scene I shared with Method Man, I haven’t even seen it but my husband watched it and told me I did a good job. He was in those sorts of situations with various women on his previous show [Bravo’s 19-2], and I got used to it. So now when we go do our jobs, we encourage each other. We say, “Go for it!” It feels really nice to get that support from your partner to really own a scene like that.
DEADLINE: People have taken to the Noma in a big way and are wishing for a prequel series. What are your thoughts on this?
CHIKEZIE: Oh, my goodness, that made me cry. I think that’d be incredible. It would be so interesting because she’s international. She has roots in Nigeria and London, and now in America. It would be interesting to see how this character was created. I think it’s a no-brainer, really. Also, I want to see more Tommy [Joseph Sikora] and Tariq and even Cane and Effie [Alix Lapri].
Do you know what I’d really like to see? I would like to see international connects. So my brother on the show Chinedu, played by the brilliant Sahr Ngaujah, is of Nigerian origin. I think it’d be fantastic to go back to Nigeria and London; to have the show span all these different continents. I want to see Tariq’s next move, and what he does next. I’d love for that to happen and see how that whole thing unfolds.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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