Creator, showrunner and executive producer Sascha Penn and stars Mekai Curtis, Tony Danza and Patina Miller sat down with The Hollywood Reporter during a special event in partnership with Starz at Pendry Park City during the Sundance Film Festival. The foursome recapped the 'Raising Kanan' journey thus far and teased what's to come.
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00:00Hi everyone, my name is Chris Gardner. I'm a senior staff writer with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:03Welcome to The Hollywood Reporter and Star's clips and conversation for Power Book 3, Raising
00:08Kanan. I'm so happy to be here and I know that there is a bunch of people in this room that are
00:12that are Raising Kanan fans. I know there's some people new to the Power universe so
00:16hopefully by the end of this you're all going to be super fans and tune in March 7th when Season 4
00:22premieres. There's some really important people from the Raising Kanan universe who are here
00:26today and over the last three seasons have made this into the fan juggernaut that it is. And
00:32there's some well-known new additions to the cast this season. Chris Redd and Partisan Fontaine are
00:37set to appear in the upcoming season. They join a roster of heavy hitters who are already on the
00:41show. You're going to meet them now, including one TV legend who's also in the building, Tony
00:49Danza. He plays a different kind of boss, the mobster Stefano Marchetti, bringing new faces,
00:57new dangers, and new layers of the complexity of the Thomas family crime operation. So without
01:02further ado, should we get him up here? Get this clips and conversation going. Starting with the
01:07man who knows it all, the Raising Kanan universe guru, creator, showrunner, executive producer,
01:12Sasha Penn. Hi, Sasha. Welcome. I'm well. Thanks for coming up here.
01:23The woman who's been charged with Raising Kanan, the one and only Patina Miller.
01:32And Kanan himself, the revelation, Makai Curtis.
01:35And there he is, the one and only, the Tony Danza.
01:45How are we all doing? Welcome to our little cozy lounge on a snowy Saturday. Everybody made it
01:50okay? I shaddled my inner Kanan. I drove myself. I manned up. I got here on my arm.
01:54Matty, you got to do what you got to do. You got to get busy. Yeah, I watched that show and you
01:59Matty, you got to do what you got to do. You got to get busy. Yeah, I watched that show and you
02:04have an influence on me. So I like that. I appreciate it. Well, first of all, what we
02:09just saw was the world premiere. Again, no one is going to share that or talk about it on social
02:14media yet. I got to watch that with you guys backstage. I just want you guys to respond to
02:18the season four trailer. Sasha, let's start with you. Well, first off, thank you for doing this.
02:24Thank you, my friends at S.T.A.R.S. for having us here. Appreciate it. Look, I think that
02:30trailer really is a good take on the season. There's a lot that happens. It's kind of action
02:36packed. At its heart, this show has always sort of remained a family drama. And I think the trailer
02:42does a good job of sort of capturing sort of the emotional highs and lows of the season. So yeah,
02:47I think it's really representative of what season four will be. I mean, season three ended on sort
02:50of a cliffhanger, as we do. And, you know, I think season four delivers. Yeah, but you know,
02:56where was that trailer, you know, months ago when that finale happened and my jaw was on the floor
03:01for like weeks after that? I wanted to be like, wait, what's going to happen? And now we know a
03:05little bit of what's going to happen. Can you talk about just how the show ended season three and
03:09where you see it going from from the clip we saw today? Well, I don't think anyone is ready for how
03:14it ended. If you watched the season three finale, it literally ended on two bangs.
03:22No, it ended on a completely high note. And we pick up right where we left off, which is cool.
03:28You know, you kind of get to understand how it all kind of unfolded like those last few moments.
03:34And we go straight into it. I mean, watching it just now for the first time, having filmed it
03:42last year, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A little bit longer. It's mine. But honestly, for me,
03:47I was so proud, so happy. You know, you always want to be a part of something like that. I mean,
03:53it's a cool trailer, you know, and it really just is so cool. And it tells everything that's going
03:58to happen this next season. And I'm just so excited for everybody to see it because it is crazy.
04:03Makai, you were dancing a little bit when you were watching that.
04:05Oh, yeah, I was hype, man. I mean, I'm excited for, you know, just the world to see what we've
04:10been over there grinding on for like the longest time right now. I'm excited for the world to
04:16see the love that went into this season. I'm excited to rewatch it and experience it all
04:22again because shooting it and shooting it and shooting it, you kind of just put it to the
04:26back burner to, you know, be ready for whatever the next task is. So, you know, my heart's full,
04:31man. I'm ready for everybody to, if you're new here, hi. Oh, if you know what it is,
04:36we will rock out. You know, it's a good time. Be back. Season four. Oh, yeah.
04:40Yeah. And Stefano's back in a big way this season. Well, first of all,
04:43Tony Danza, can I say it? Can I break a little bit of news? Congratulations.
04:47Oh, yeah. Do you want it? My daughter had a baby girl last night. Let's go. Her name is Rosie.
04:56Baby and the mom are fine. So it's incredible. It's the most important thing. And
05:00we don't know that Stefano is going to be fine next season or the people around him
05:04necessarily are going to be fine. But no, I think that's what's great about the show is you really,
05:09you know, you know, when we read the show, we've been doing it on the Zoom because obviously so
05:15we do the Zoom and we read the show and that's the first time we see the script.
05:19And invariably, we all walk out like, wow, I can't believe what's going on.
05:24And so that's how it was the whole fourth season. And, you know, it just that's that's what's
05:30and let me just say before I go on, I want, you know, something a little bit around a while.
05:35And this show is a gift. It really was a gift to me that these guys gave me. And it was a gift
05:42from the cast also who welcomed me with, you know, with open arms. It was I really felt like I was
05:48one of the gang right away. So so it's really been an incredible experience to work on the show. And
05:55I am so excited for people to see this fourth season. I really am. It just I mean, it's one of
06:02those things you go, I can't believe that's what they did. You know, it's that kind of it's kind
06:06of it's that kind of thing. So I would add that one of the joys of season four is Tony. And it's
06:12like he is a legend. Right. But it's you know, it's one of those things where I always like when
06:19it comes to Tony, it's always weird calling him a legend because when you think of a legend,
06:22you think, oh, the numbers hanging in the rafters, you know, and but with Tony, he's he's doing his
06:28best work right now, at least in my opinion, because it's the best scripts you ever had.
06:33Oh, so too, Sash. I was just about to say this. So now we've just been so lucky. And it's also
06:44it's amazing for all of us, you know, I shouldn't say all of us, because younger cast to see
06:50someone who's been doing this professionally for that long, you know, who has that track record,
06:55track record, and by the way, shows up every day on point on time, and knows what the fuck he's
07:01doing. And that's, you know, I think for everybody, it's inspiring. And it's also sort of aspiration.
07:06Wow, that's beautiful. Let's take it back to the beginning is the extra 10.
07:12Yeah, let's take it back to the beginning. Because this show, obviously is is a is a prequel to
07:18the power series, Makai Curtis playing that the character originated by 50 Cent. So Sasha,
07:24can you talk a little bit about because that that was your world to begin with. And then you took
07:28over this, this spinoff as the creator, executive producer and showrunner. So talking about like,
07:32just first of all, why he made such sense to get his own spinoff Canaan and, and why you decided
07:39to focus it on the family dynamic with the Thomas family? Um, I think, you know, the thing about
07:44Canaan is that he was like, incredibly polarizing, right? Whenever you have a polarizing character,
07:49that's the character you want to focus on. Because it means like, people are divided,
07:54some people love them, some people hate them. And that makes him incredibly interesting. So
07:58you know, when Courtney and 50 came to me, they said, Look, we think this is an interesting
08:02character. We're not exactly sure how to do it. Maybe we do some version of Goodfell. You know,
08:06there was, we had a lot of conversations. And for me, what I said to them was, you know,
08:12it always felt like the story had to be about Canaan and his mother, you know, and so this is
08:17this is my homage to mothers. My own mother was rocks a lot better than my own mother. I care a
08:25lot. Oh, is that true? Is your mother still alive? She is. Oh, no. It's all right. It's all right.
08:35But um, but no, so I mean, look, I think if you look at the original power,
08:40it's, it's homework was two things. One is cliffhangers. Like that was the thing that
08:45people just could not get enough of. But I think it was also that there was this sort of makeshift
08:49family and a real family that the people responded to. And I think that was always the vision for
08:54this show. But it never really was real until we had Patina and Makai and Tony and London. And
09:02then all of a sudden, you know, then you could really wrap your head around what this family
09:06you know, when my excuse me, when my agent called me and said it was a part for me and on the show,
09:14I really thought, well, it's a family show. It's a single mother trying to raise her son.
09:21It's just like, who's the boss?
09:23It was an immediate it was an immediate Yes, I'm sure.
09:31Patina, let's get to you because what's so beautiful, I think about this show is that it's
09:38it feels to me, like one of those beautiful Hollywood moments that it's like the material
09:43meets the talent, you know, and you have, you know, risen to the occasion, and it plays to
09:47all your strengths. And, and it is such a different anti hero than we're used to seeing these if you
09:53if somebody pitched to you, hey, this is a story about a drug kingpin raising their son, you might
09:59think it would be a man, but it's it's you. So tell me about like, what first of all, what your
10:04reaction was when you got this script and, and how you felt knowing all aspects of who rock was
10:10supposed to be? Well, when I heard that it was a queen pin and all of you know, things like that,
10:16I like okay, that's cool. That's easy, right? Like playing strength, being strong, you know,
10:21that's something that I can do. But what I loved and what really excited me about it was
10:26that she was a mother, and what this could be and what this world could be. And it's literally at
10:32the end of the day, before she is a drug queen pin, she is a mother, a single mom trying to
10:39raise her kid in the best way that she knows how. And that for me just felt right. You know, I am
10:46a daughter of a very young mother, 15, my mother had me at 15. So I went into this knowing like,
10:53how difficult that can be. And I know like the trauma involved around that. So I really wanted
10:58to focus on that trauma. I wanted to focus and find her softness and find all these incredible
11:04nuanced things about this, this connection with her son and how it could make her be so volatile
11:10or so, you know, she's a mama bear, and then she's like, lioness. And then she's, you know,
11:16she's so many different things. And that's what excited me is that she could be all of that.
11:23If I may just add to that, I'm just going to keep doing that every time and everybody
11:26ends. She's so good. I can't understand what it's like to work with her. You know,
11:32she's so good. When you look in her eyes, and she does something that you didn't expect.
11:38She's just amazing. I just want to say that. Thank you. And I will, what I will say is,
11:46finally, being a working actor, I've been very blessed to be a working actor.
11:50But sometimes the roles don't always come. And sometimes you can spend a lot of time
11:56trying to find the right thing for you at the right moment. And I really believe that
12:01you and the script found me at the right moment. And I was prepared, you know, I'd done all the
12:06work. I'd been to school, I'd been on Broadway and done all these things. All of those things
12:11prepared me for this moment of, you know, the talent would meet the opportunity and the work.
12:18And I thought of like all the beautiful things that could happen. And I'm just so blessed
12:23that I've been able to be on this show. Thank you, Sasha.
12:27I mean, it goes without saying that this character wouldn't be even half of what it is if it wasn't
12:33for you. And I think, you know, it is, you know, when we get really, really lucky in this business
12:38is when we have a collaborator who takes the material and elevates it to a place you didn't
12:43even expect it to go. And that happens every day on the set of Raising Cane.
12:49A lot of compliments flying today. We love that. Tony, you can jump in with compliments at any
12:53moment. I don't think I could beat that one. So I just shut up. We're going to get to you,
12:58though, with some compliments in a little bit. So we'll circle back, though. I want to ask you
13:03one more question, just because I love I think that's such a beautiful answer, how you've sort
13:07of met this moment with this material, because you had worked a long time on Broadway, on the
13:12theater stage, Hunger Games, Madam Secretary. How has this part changed your life?
13:16Oh, my God. I mean, Jesus, it's given me an incredible amount of confidence. It's made me
13:24trust my voice, trust my instincts more. You know, I'm able to be in rooms and be proud of myself
13:32and hold myself in a way. You know, Raquel is a powerful, powerful, powerful woman. And, you know,
13:38you play this role so many hours, so many days, you start to kind of believe it. And you start,
13:44you know, she gave me confidence. She gave me, like, you know, a lot of stuff. And so I am,
13:50I have been changed with this role. And I have stretched myself. I've been incredibly honored to
13:57be able to have so many wonderful moments and just being challenged as an actor, you know,
14:04finding myself. And that's been the most incredible thing.
14:08Speaking of being changed, I'm missing Makai Curtis. We got to bring him to this conversation.
14:12But speaking of change, I'll just hear you. No, no, we need you to participate because
14:18we have to get to this section called evolution, which is one of the things too,
14:22that struck me so much about watching your performance from first episode of season one
14:26to the end of season three, just the way in which you have evolved as a performer, but also
14:31how Kanan has evolved as a character. I want to get to you first, but Sasha,
14:35can you talk a little bit about just the character arc of the title character here? And did you map
14:40it out like as a linear journey on a big board? How did you know how he was going to get from
14:47point A to a couple of gunshots at the end? Right. Great question. Well, I mean, I think
14:53part of it had been mapped out for me. Do you know what I mean? Like, if you watch power,
14:57you know how the story ends. So the question became, well, how does someone become that?
15:02How does someone become what 50 sort of realized in power? And my version of it was that he didn't
15:11start out that way because I don't think people do start out that way. I think there's a lot of
15:14different things that happen, happen across the course of our lives and mold us and build us and
15:19tear us down. And so that was really we wanted to start him in a very different place than he ends.
15:24You know, we want to be able to sort of because that was always the challenge. And in fact,
15:29when the show first premiered, a lot of people were like, why are we we already know how the
15:33story ends? Why do we care? And so the challenge for us was like, well, here's why you care,
15:37because his story is very different than maybe what you imagined. I don't think it was ever
15:44plotted. Like we start here, but we always think where we end up. Let's put it that way.
15:48Okay, I'm going to get you to weigh in on that. But I think the best way to do that,
15:51should we get back to some clips? We're missing those clips. Remember, I said,
15:54this is clips and conversation. So let's start with these back to back clips,
15:58Bedroom Talk and We Good, where you can see Makai at work and see how Kanan has evolved.
16:04Talk to me, Kanan. You can say anything to me. Always.
16:09I don't want to disappoint you. Well, I mean, if you're honest,
16:16you'll never disappoint me. Tell me what you're thinking. Let me in.
16:26I thought I was cut out for it. For what you and Uncle Marvin and Uncle Lou do.
16:34I mean, I'm your son. I'm Def Con's son. Y'all both did it, so I thought I would, too.
16:49But maybe not. Maybe I was supposed to do something else. To be someone else.
16:58To be someone else. So you thinking me and you good now?
17:05Look, I'm not saying we're good, Kanan. I mean, you and me, we got a lot to fix.
17:10I want you to know that I'm through with all of this other shit.
17:14You know, the only reason I went to the hospital was to keep this bullshit ass
17:18story you and my father put together about crime. His father?
17:24What the fuck he talking about? You want to tell him? Or should I?
17:32Like I said, Kanan, we got a lot to talk about.
17:35And I'm going to have that conversation with you and everybody else.
17:38Ain't shit to talk about. Because if you talking, you lying.
17:43And I ain't got time for that shit no more. I ain't got time for you.
17:50Kanan.
17:53DEF CON dead. What do you got to do with all of this?
18:04This is a great show right there. That is wow.
18:08Makai, first of all, how is it to watch yourself on screen?
18:12Candidly, it's very weird. It's very, very weird, but it's also super gratifying.
18:19Like you said, watching the journey. Yeah, as an artist, it's cool to see the growth.
18:25It's cool to see, you know, the excitement I have to show up every day and be better
18:31and do better and want to learn, you know, around Patina Miller, Tony Danza, Wendell Pierce,
18:37like the caliber of talent I'm around kind of just, you know, it makes you rise to the occasion,
18:44makes you want to, you know, step up to the plate.
18:46Thank you, Sasha, also again for great writing and giving me a vehicle to do that with.
18:52You know, I've been on the show since the second year, end of the second year, and I've just
18:57seen such an incredible evolution in him. It's incredible to watch him now. I mean,
19:03he really is something else. So keep an eye on this guy.
19:10It's one of the best parts of what we've done. And Patina, I know, agrees, like watching what
19:16Makai has done across the course of these four seasons is really, it's incredible. And, you know,
19:24he's, not that he wasn't amazing in season one, but what he's, we've challenged him every day,
19:30and it's not an easy thing to do. And by the way, these are big shoes to fill. It's not like,
19:33you know, 50 is a small personality. So, you know, Makai has been fearless, and that's what you kind
19:41of have to be to do this job well, I think. And we've all just been so fortunate to work.
19:47This is such a cozy, compliment-filled Saturday. I could sit here.
19:51We're not going to sit up to worship.
19:54I want the real story.
19:55Let me just say, it happens when you have this great group of people, this great writer and
20:01writers, and this great production. I mean, we're pretty happy.
20:06You can tell, now you can tell. I'll throw my hat in the air.
20:13But Makai, I wanted to ask you some, just some professional questions about
20:17Kanan's journey too. We know that you've been able to rise to the occasion,
20:21but talk about how he's risen through this journey from season one to season two, season three,
20:26like in the beats that you found sort of most revelatory for his
20:30journey to become much more ruthless, like his mother.
20:33I mean, I don't know if that's going back to, if you've watched Power, you understand
20:42how polarizing it is. You understand just how menacing it can be. But as a person myself,
20:49Makai, I'm always just watching people and trying to figure out what is that? Why? Why?
20:55So that was immediately the task that came across with Kanan very early on in conversations with
21:03Sasha. That was kind of the thing we talked about is like, well, we know what this is, but
21:09the real flavor is in how he got there, the why's, the what's, the things that build callous on skin
21:18and stuff like that. So it's just been fun to show up every day with whatever words this man
21:23has put on the page and try to find the moments that make it relatable and real and believable
21:29and bring you into that world and bring you into that space and make you sort of think and feel
21:33these sort of things. I don't know if that answered the question.
21:35Yes, you did. Very well. He's a pro, this one. Patina, back to you.
21:40Ra can be manipulative at times, and also her love for her son gets in the way sometimes.
21:45Do you think that, first of all, what do you think her ultimate goals are for him
21:49in the family business or just in life? And is she capable of real love beyond this relationship?
21:56Oh, my God. Jesus.
21:59Well, at the end of the day, I think she is someone who loves, I think she loves her son.
22:07I think she loves him so much. Does she want him in the business? No. If you watch the show,
22:11the entire first season is all about her encouraging him to go to school, go get a,
22:17have a chance, do the thing that I wasn't able to do. As a mother, she's trying to play
22:23the good mom, like, do this thing, go. You don't want to end up the way that I ended up,
22:28because she knows how it will end for him. I mean, everyone saw. And so in the beginning,
22:35that is where she is. But battling her son, who's coming into his own, he's not as naive as he's
22:41been. He's starting to push back and question, which sort of her love for him, wanting him so
22:47close, it starts to play with her. It starts to mess things up. So does she want him a part
22:54of the business? No. But if he's going to be a part of a business, she wants to be in control
22:58of that. And I think that's where her control comes in. And she always has to have control.
23:05And it gets in the way. Right, Sasha? I mean, what would you-
23:08Yeah, Sasha. I mean, look, I think there's a question,
23:13Rock loves her son, but she also really loves herself. And I think that's the tension.
23:18The tension is that Rock is a narcissist. And like all narcissists, love is a very complicated idea.
23:28And it's pretty fraught. And so I think that's what she really struggles with internally,
23:34is she does love her son. And yet there are times when her love for her son
23:41compromises her sense of herself. And when those two things collide, it becomes very,
23:45very complicated. And there's choices that have to be made. And those are very, very tough choices.
23:50Again, it's like, I mean, anyone who's in here who's a parent, you know this. It's like, it's
23:54very complicated to have children. It's not like suddenly you flip a switch and you're a different
24:00person. You're the same person you always were. But now you have these kids whose survival sort of
24:08depends on you. That relationship is complicated on its own. But then when you're
24:12Raquel Thomas, who's a drug dealer and a narcissist and a murderer, it's a lot more
24:18complicated. You know what I'm saying? Slightly, slightly.
24:21I mean, when he puts it like that, she- Yeah, when you say it like that.
24:24You know, the great thing I love about it, she doesn't know she's a narcissist, right? She just
24:28thinks that she's doing the right thing, right? Everything is for the family. Everything is
24:32because I love him. And I do think she really loves him. But there, like you said, there's that
24:36part of her that loves herself too. And when she hasn't quite gotten to be able to do this yet,
24:42you know? And so it's all about how she manipulates, you know? That really is it. But it's always about,
24:48no, I'm doing this for you. I'm doing this for you. I'm doing this for the family.
24:52The brothers is like, I'm trying to feed you. I'm trying to do all of this and that. And so it
24:56kind of gets very cloudy. It's funny. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, no, no. It's
25:00funny that you were saying, you know, she hasn't had the chance to do this yet. Because I feel like
25:05those moments between Rock and Kayden where they're kind of, it's exactly that moment. It's
25:10like everything that Rock has instilled in this boy, he's now exemplifying. And, you know, that's
25:15a flustering sort of moment to be in anything. That same sort of headstrong, going to do it
25:20because I'm going to do it, that Rock has is everything that Kayden exemplifies in those
25:25moments. So it's like, you know, that same thing. Exactly. It's, you know, no, I don't,
25:29I want you to go to school. I need you to be away from this. And Kayden is like, well,
25:32I see what's going on. I want to protect you the same way you're trying to protect me. I can't
25:37leave you. So it's fun seeing that, you know, that back and forth, the mirror that you just
25:41talked about. It's challenging when your kids, your kids know you better than anybody. And that's
25:46challenge, you know? And there's, I think it's in season three where Kayden says to Rock, you know,
25:53I feel like a lot of times you justify the old shit you do by saying you love me.
25:57And it's true. She does. And by the way, she really believes it. She really believes that
26:02she's doing it for her son. And yet there's a lot of sort of self-preservation that's going on in
26:08those moments as well. So it's complicated. Such a good line. That was such a good line.
26:14Thank you. You know who else has some, you know, who else has some bars? You know who else,
26:20you know, who else gets a lot of great lines that Tony Danza? He sure does. He sure does. And I was
26:24thinking, you know, we, we should get to him because this, this what you've done so, so
26:29thoughtfully and beautifully through throughout the course of the show is sort of introduced
26:32these new characters who don't just seem like you're padding the budget or, or just sort of
26:36adding characters to, you know, add more characters. He was introduced at the end of season
26:42two. Do you want to talk a little bit about, like tee up this clip of like, that we're going to see
26:47of Stefano, his introduction, how we learn what a dangerous friend he can be and what his interests
26:52are with Raquel? I mean, I would just say that, you know, the best sort of representations of
27:00this type of character, they're always super charismatic and, and, and you really sort of
27:05loved them. And it's like, that's why it was always going to be Tony. Cause it's like you instinctively,
27:11Oh, it's Tony Danza. I love Tony Danza. And then when you take that and you flip it on its head
27:16and you're like, nah, he's, he's a real fucking bad guy. It becomes really, really interesting or
27:21cool. So you should play the clip and then play the clip. Yeah.
27:31What is this Stefano?
27:35Who the fuck is this guy?
27:36He ain't got shit to do with this.
27:38I'm unique. Who the fuck are you?
27:41Me? I'm priceless.
27:43Sit him down. Sit him down.
27:47Unique, huh?
27:50Hey, I don't suppose your mother came up with that one, huh?
27:54Unique. How about unique? How about that, huh? Hey guys, you ever notice the moolies?
28:00The fucking moolies, they got all the best nicknames, huh?
28:05Us fucking Italians, we get the garbage. We get bullshit like the chin, the scoff face.
28:12Scoff face. Fucking Joe Bananas. You know what they call me? The big fish. Fish.
28:19But you people, ma donna mia, you got the fucking best ones. Unique, fat cat, the king of pop.
28:29Hey, yo, yo, yo, what do you say? You got a good nickname for me?
28:35This nigga want me to be his fucking daddy and give him a name?
28:42Sally said you had a mouth on you.
28:48What are you? What are you? You two, uh, doing item?
28:52Coming through my kitchen door like that in the middle of the fucking night,
28:55you know that's not how shit is done.
28:58Hey fellas, give us a couple of minutes, huh?
29:01Hey, and take fucking ubiquitous here with you. Cut her loose.
29:07Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on, hold on, hold on. You know what?
29:10I actually do got a nickname for you. Yeah. Little linguini.
29:16Little linguini about to get cooked.
29:23Comedian, that one.
29:24What the fuck you want?
29:31Tony Danza, first of all, how are you watching yourself?
29:34See, you know, it's fun because the writing gives you a chance to really,
29:41and I haven't got the chance to do many cards like that.
29:43And I mean, you know, it, it just, it's weird to watch.
29:46I feel it's as uncomfortable as this.
29:50And then, and I've been in the business a lot longer,
29:53and I guess I should know how to use the mic.
29:58But, uh, but it's just, you know, it's, it's such good production.
30:03It's got such good writing. You feel very lucky to be part of it.
30:06We feel lucky as an audience to, I think, see you in a role like that.
30:09And I know that you, uh, have feelings about
30:13depictions of it, sort of Italian monsters and,
30:16and being offered them in the past and saying, no, why did this one make you say yes?
30:21So it was during the pandemic and I was sitting around,
30:25my agent called and said, you know, they got this, this, and they send me a scene.
30:29I do have a little problem sometimes with the Italian trope.
30:33And I have been lucky. My friends always give me a hard time about it.
30:36They say, you know, you never had to play that part.
30:38We all, that's the only parts we get. So I never had to do that.
30:41And so I was a little reluctant, but then Michael Raspoli was the other actor.
30:48Michael Raspoli is a terrific guy. I don't know if you know his work.
30:51And so I said, I'd love to work with Michael.
30:53So we went and, and I had just a ball and, and then, and I, I'll be honest with you.
30:58Interesting. I call my agent when I got home,
31:01I said, they're never going to buy me as the bad guy.
31:04Come on. And then I got a call and said, no, they want to, they want you to stay.
31:08So I was very lucky, very lucky.
31:10Sasha.
31:11Yeah. Yeah.
31:12How, what was your vision for Tony Danza as the bad guy?
31:15And what was it? I mean, first of all, how stoked were you when he did say yes?
31:19I mean, very stoked and surprised. I mean, I, you know, one thing I'll say is that I
31:23don't know if there are any bad guys on this show. It's like, everyone's a bad guy.
31:26Everyone's a good guy, you know? So I think there's so many
31:29redeeming qualities about the character that Tony plays, you know,
31:33and there's a lot of wisdom that comes out of, out of, you know, his mouth, Stefano's mouth.
31:37So it was just one of those things where, as I said, it felt like we were casting Tony against
31:43type, which is always when things become really, really interesting. And he mentioned Michael
31:47Raspoli, who, and I also just want to take a minute just to acknowledge all the other
31:51actors on this show who are spectacular. We've seen here London Brown, Joey Badass, Malcolm Mays,
31:57Hayley Kilgore, Omar Epps. I mean, we've been so fortunate to have all these incredible
32:03actors on this show. But, you know, with Stefano, again, I felt like it was really,
32:08really important that people instinctively liked the character, you know, like you want to like
32:14him. It's like, it is, you know, we owe tremendous debt to the Sopranos. I mean, we do. It's,
32:18it's, you know, it's obviously. And it's funny, Michael Raspoli, who we mentioned,
32:22was between him and James Gandolfini for Tony Soprano. And actually, this is a total aside,
32:27but one of my favorite moments when we've been shooting this, I think I've told this story
32:31before, is Michael Raspoli, who plays Sal Vaselli, there's a scene where he and Rock are at this
32:38bowling alley. And, you know, it's a pretty, it's a pretty unbelievable scene in terms of just the
32:44back and forth between them. And he sort of says to her, you know, what is it with you? Is it
32:47because you're a woman and Rock's like, you know, that's what it always is for guys. I always say
32:50it's because I'm a woman. But anyway, right before that scene, Michael, we were in a bowling
32:54alley, Michael's just pacing back and forth in the bowling alley and he looks terrified. And I walk
33:00up to him and I'm like, Michael, you know, you all right? And he looks at me and he's like,
33:04she's going to eat me alive. I know Michael Raspoli, that's not his attitude. And he said,
33:16you got to fucking protect me. I'm like, all I do is write this shit, you know. But anyway,
33:23yeah. I mean, look, what can I say about Tony? You know, he's Tony. You know, it's just we're
33:28so fortunate that he agreed to do it. And yes, it was surprising. But I think, again, he brought
33:34a depth to this character that we didn't think we would have. So again, just so fortunate.
33:39Love that. How about another round of applause for Tony Danza? How about that? How about that?
33:44Thank you so much. We have some more clips of Stefano in action, but you know, we're going to
33:50enter the final part of the Clips in Conversation, which is a look ahead at season four. At the top
33:56of this Clips in Conversation, you guys got to see the trailer. So you're going to see another
33:59clip that is exclusive to you and is an addition to your NDA. You know, it don't matter to me what
34:07you think of me, Keenan. Don't matter to me at all. I don't need you to love me for me to love
34:15you back. You understand what I'm saying? I love you so much. Don't matter if you hate me.
34:38Petina, Rock worked so hard to win back Keenan's trust last season, and we now know that she's
34:56continuing to do that by this preview of season four. Where do you see their relationship going
35:02through the course of the season? Without giving too much away, I want people to tune in March 7,
35:05season four. Well, I will say that it's very Rocky. I mean, she just killed his father in
35:13front of him. So you can kind of imagine what kind of things, you know what I mean? It is a
35:20game changer, like you just said, and you will have to watch her navigate the repercussions of
35:25that and trying to, you know, she's always trying to win him back. And I think this season she
35:30continues to do that. And yeah, it gets a little tricky because Keenan is no longer standing for
35:38her BS. Makai, how are you? Talk about how you approach Keenan's feelings for season four and,
35:48you know, how he feels about his mother. And also too, because as we saw from the trailer,
35:53their business together continues. So do you think they're better business partners or
35:58mother and son, or where do you see this going? I think you get to see them try to navigate that
36:04through, you get to see them navigate their personal relationship through being business
36:10partners and how they learn to like start trying to communicate again and how they're feeling each
36:16other out. You kind of see Keenan while he's, you know, from day one, he's been asking questions
36:21and getting answers. And as he's getting more answers, he's now building his own reality and
36:27world based on what he's seeing put in front of him. And again, in true fashion of mommy saying,
36:33no, stay right here. And, you know, little boy being like, I'm a grown man. Now you're seeing
36:39the push and pull of just a mother and a son and how they try to love each other and how they try
36:46to look out for each other. And, you know, just again, navigating, learning and meeting somebody
36:53you love again. You know what I mean? It's, it's this constant kind of chess battle between the,
36:58like seeing what you've picked up and what you've learned new. And, you know, that's, that's what
37:03you're going to see happening in season four. I think that's, that's my interpretation of it. I'm
37:07done now. No, I want to, I want to stay on YouTube just because rock and Keenan scenes together are
37:12so intense and you guys in person, in real life, you're acting, I know, but in person, in real life,
37:17you seem to really love one another and learning a lot. She's cool. Yes. No, she's. So what is,
37:23what is the process like when you guys have an intense scene like that? What is,
37:26what is the bond like onset offset? But if you don't know Ms. Bettina Miller, she's an absolute
37:33nerd when it comes to this sort of thing. And that energy just kind of rubs off on everybody.
37:38She's around literally from the moment I met her at the chemistry, that sort of, you know,
37:43we both walked in the room, grabbed the sides and are like highlighting what we need to get
37:46through and trying to find those moments. So that's, that's just what it is. I mean,
37:52it's, it's that synergy. It's that in between with them. Yeah. Makai is a great scene partner.
37:57And, you know, as an actor, you can only hope that you're able to get in the ring or be on
38:04camera on stage with people who are actors, generous actors. And that means an actor who
38:10listens and actor who gives and is there, you know, in the moment and Makai is always there.
38:16You know, when I, when I'm at the beginning of a scene, I'm like, what are we trying to do? What,
38:20how can we make this great? You know, having someone who really is just as excited as you are
38:26to make it great and to play and to try it a different way, it makes a difference. And him
38:33and I started in that way and a chemistry read of, you know, being just so excited. I mean,
38:38it's a blessing. It's a blessing for me as a black woman, as a black actor to be able to do this kind
38:46of material and have this kind of platform to tell these kinds of stories and to hear the response
38:53to it and to talk to people and to hear how, you know, how much they love it and, and how much of
38:59rock they see in themselves or, you know, these characters remind them of people to be with an
39:05actor who gives like Makai does. It is so incredible. And I love him dearly. I love him
39:13dearly. And I think that's why it's been easy for us to play the love and you feel the love when
39:18you watch us on screen together, even when we're at odds, these two characters are always fighting
39:24for the love, you know, even when they have these terrible moments under it is, I love you. And so
39:33me loving him in real life, being able to play that, it just makes it so much easier.
39:38They do have moments in the fourth year that it's just incredible.
39:45It's going to get good, man. It's scary out here. March 7th, stars out.
39:51Yeah, I would also just, I mean, look, you know, this is a team sport. So, you know,
39:56you're only as good as the guy or woman you're passing the balls. And if, if they're going to,
40:02they're going to drop that shit, then guess what, you know, you're not going to get down the field.
40:06So we've been really, really fortunate in that every actor on the show, for the most part has,
40:12you know, has that skill and comes in every day.
40:15Yeah, they have moments, man. They really.
40:19Just also because the words on the page, you read them and you're like,
40:22oh, okay, this is weak, weak. Okay. I'm ready.
40:25You got it. You understand the assignment, man. So again, thank you for
40:29giving all of us the platform and the vehicle to actually show.
40:34The words, but it's smart material. You know what I mean? I think like these kinds of shows,
40:41you know, can sometimes be very stereotypical. You know what I mean? Like, but this is not that,
40:47you know, it's so human. I think the story is so human and it's credit to Sasha
40:51that you have not done that. You know, like we've been able to.
40:56Well, I mean, listen, don't stop. I mean, this shouldn't go on.
40:59I know. I'm not used to this kind of thing.
41:03This can be very like, oh, okay, here, here are these black characters doing X, Y, and Z,
41:09or here, you know what I mean? Like the Italian characters who serve as this kind of all these
41:14tropes, but really all of these characters have stakes. The stakes are so high for every single
41:21character. All these characters are fighting for something. They all want something. And what I
41:26love about it, that it's not really, it's about like how they feel, you know, and what will you do
41:32to get the power? What will you do to get and how we act? And that's what I've loved about being on
41:37this show and being able to read the words and just like, oh yeah, I get that. Oh yeah, this is
41:44easy. Yeah. And I think, you know, just to build off of something that Kai said earlier, and to go
41:48back to your question about the relationship between rock and cane and cane, it is a mirror
41:54to rock, right? And it's sort of the inciting incident, you know, that the catalyst for all
42:00this was him trying to protect her, right? Like in the pilot episode, he went to go protect his mom.
42:07And what happens after that is this sort of series of betrayals. And the story we're telling
42:14is like, is there a way back for a mother and a son or a family that is sort of steeped in that type
42:23of betrayal, you know? And look, I do think that there is a universality to that. Like,
42:28if you're in a family, like, look, the betrayal may not be you killed someone,
42:33but there are small betrayals that happen every step of the way. And we're all trying to navigate
42:38those and figure those out and figure out if there's a way back to each other. And sometimes
42:43you can get there and sometimes you can't, you know, but you never stop trying because we're
42:48wired to do that. It's like, this is my family. And somehow in our brains, we have convinced
42:54ourselves, well, that means we need to be a family. And that is sort of the crux of what
42:59we've been doing for four years, right? Which is like, it's a family show. I'll give you that.
43:05Exactly. That's what we're trying to do is like, can you repair a family? And, you know,
43:10you'll have to tune in to find out. Got to tune in. You're doing great so far. By the way, Sasha,
43:15did you ever imagine you'd have to come to Park City to get so many compliments?
43:18I didn't. I do. I hope that by you, I would have come. You're going to
43:21just ease up in your luggage, take their own view. You deserve them all.
43:25Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
43:27Should we do our last clip? Because we got to see what's in store for Stefano down there
43:31for season four. So let's play our final clip of the day.
43:38Hey, you're wondering why I reached out to you. And the answer is twofold, my friend.
43:45Yeah. First off, as discussed, you are a true professional. I mean, in a business that is
43:54sorely lacking in that particular area. And secondly, as was the case with our late comrade
44:01in Newark, I have a job that demands a little bit of distance and some cover for me.
44:10You need me to do more work for you?
44:12My daughter, Paulette, her new husband, Tommaso, he's embarrassing her and me.
44:18And that's unacceptable. Problem is, Tommaso's a made guy, so I can't have one of my own guys
44:24go over there and knock some much needed sense into him. It's against the rules.
44:29You mafia guys seem to find a whole lot of ways around the rules, though.
44:34It's not so much the letter of the law as it is the spirit, if you know what I'm saying.
44:43Tony, Stefano has gotten more and more involved with the Thomas family as we see him there
44:48asking Marvin for his help. How involved with the Thomas family does he get?
44:52How much more involved, excuse me, does he get with the family?
44:55He gets very, very, very involved. In fact, you know, in fact, I'm going to say something that
45:03this is just me talking. This is not the organization here. But
45:07I think Stefano is really hot for rock. I'm not kidding. I think he has a bad for her. He says
45:15something. There's a couple of lines that I can't repeat here that he says in the show that would
45:20lead you to believe that. But I think that that tension he has because he's mad at her often,
45:28but he likes her a lot. So there's that tension going on a lot. It's sort of like he becomes part
45:34of the family. You know, he's worried about is a scene this is a scene where he he helps rock to
45:40get to retrieve what he's been kidnapped. I shouldn't say that, I guess. But oh, God, I gave
45:46something away. Well, that's great. You're good. That was that was OK. I'm good. You think that
45:53NDA on the thing is it's real. But but I just think, you know, it really comes it turns into
46:01I know this is crazy to call it a family, but it turns into like a family. It really does.
46:08You know, Wendell and Erica, they they're part of the family, Pops and Snaps. And
46:14and of course, London Brown. I want you to know, but we don't talk about London. He's not here.
46:19Marvin, who plays, you know, the brother. He's so magnificent. He's just really so great to work
46:25with. And that's the thing. You really get to work with a great bunch of actors.
46:30And some great writing and some great production. What else do you want?
46:34Simple as that. There it is. So we end there. I was going to keep going. That seems like a
46:39really beautiful place to end. But Sasha, I do want to give you the final words of the day.
46:45Well, first off, thank you all for coming out. You know, I mean, one of the challenges of a show
46:50like this is is, you know, like any show is getting people to watch it. And also, you know,
46:56and this is I'm not speaking for the organization either, but one of the one of the frustrations,
47:00I think, that that's been hard is like we do have these amazing performances and sometimes it feels
47:05like they're not getting the how should I put it? Yeah, they're not acknowledged in the way
47:12we'd like them to be acknowledged by various organizations that recognize these things.
47:18And so it's super meaningful for us to be here, to be able to share this work with you and share
47:22with the world. And, you know, we're just very grateful that that we've had that we've had. Well,
47:26ultimately, we're going to have you know, we have we will have five seasons at least of this.
47:31And and we are we're just so grateful, grateful to our friends and stars, Lionsgate for for doing
47:38this. And yeah, look, it's it's it's been amazing. And we really hope you like season four. So thank
47:44you. I I'm also so grateful. Thank you to each and every one of you. I do speak I do speak for
47:49the organization. So I will say thank you to the Hollywood Reporter. Thank you, stars, so much for
47:54bringing this brilliant team to Park City and sharing the stage with me today. I'm so grateful
47:59and I hope we converted some new Raising Canaan fans and gave the ones that are already here
48:04something to look forward to on March 7th. So tune in that and we'll see you on the other side.