Jesse Williams on his Power cameo and whether he'll appear in the spin-off
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sunday’s episode of Power on Starz.
If you’re a Power viewer who also happens to be a Grey’s Anatomy fan, then we hope you were as giddy as we were to see Jesse Williams in a cameo role as LaKeisha’s ex-lover in Sunday’s episode. Williams — who plays Dr. Jackson Avery on Grey‘s — stopped by the New York set of the Starz drama to appear in a pivotal scene with Tommy (Joseph Sikora).
Here, Williams talks about moonlighting on the Courtney Kemp drama, and whether there’s any chance he will work with the showrunner again. (Cue: sounds of people pleading).
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this role come about?
JESSE WILLAIMS: I’m a fan of the show. I’ve been in contact with Courtney Kemp, who is a good friend of mine. Courtney and I have been trying to figure out a way to work together for some time. We figured hell or high water, we’re going to find a way to sneak me in. With the show wrapping up, she wanted to squeeze me in for kind of a surprise cameo and to get our working relationship started. It’s a monster show and I thought it would be fun to pop in for the final season. It’s an interesting character. The character had a presence in the show for a duration because he was in a relationship with La La Anthony’s character and is the father of Cash. He’s just been off-screen this whole time. It’s kind of cool to come in with a character that’s kind of been ever-present.
Did anyone notice you on set? Or was it an open secret that Jesse was there?
We kept it pretty secretive. I just did my scenes with Joseph and kind of snuck in and snuck out. I think Omari Hardwick knew. We texted about it, but I think we wanted to keep it quiet until the week of the episode.
I don’t remember you having all those tattoos.
That’d be a hell of a reveal! The reveal is that this whole time I’m great and I’ve actually been fully tatted and we just cover it up every day [for Grey’s]. I had a fun time with their great makeup department playing around with some prison tats. This is the first time I’ve been full-body tatted since I did the Rihanna video “Russian Roulette” ages ago. I had full body tat for that. It was fun to do and it might be something I do in real life. Who the hell knows?
What did you mean when you said this is the beginning of your working relationship with Courtney. Are you going to be on the Power spin-off?
Not that I know of and I’m not withholding, I just don’t know. We really are fans of each other, we’d love to figure out ways to work and she’s got really cool ideas for the spin-offs. I’m open to doing cool, creative, different work that I haven’t done before. It’s certainly a possibility as far as I can tell.
Did you have to ask for time away from Grey‘s to do this?
They were very accommodating. This is my 11th year. Everybody’s really lovely and does their best to make it work. I’m on Grey‘s, I’ve got a relationship with a character on another Shonda show. I’m doing Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu. I’ve done a couple of movies. I’m getting ready for a play. I’ve got some tech companies that has me running in and out of the state. Grey‘s allows to the best of their ability for us to be able to have a life outside of the show while carrying a big load for them. I can’t say enough about how accommodating and loving they are.
Well, I hope you got to keep that gold chain you wore in the episode.
I might’ve swiped it. We’ll keep that between you and me.
Power airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Starz.
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