At first glance, The Power may seem like a superhero story crossed with The Handmaid’s Tale, but it is so much more than that. Based on the novel by Naomi Alderman, The Power is an epic story about not just women who are imbued with a mysterious new ability but also how the structure of control and hierarchy of our world shifts because of this change.
The Power posits what it would be like if teenage girls across the globe suddenly manifested the ability to harness electricity through their bodies. Some fear the power, while others embrace what it means for those subjugated because of their gender. In a global tale set in various countries, The Power shows us how fear changes the perspective of men, women, and those who identify with a different sex. Sometimes funny, often dramatic, and always shocking, The Power is a commentary on our current perception of gender norms and how that shift does not always mean positive change.
I talked with the creative team behind The Power, including executive producer and author of the novel Naomi Ackerman, showrunner Raelle Tucker, and executive producers Jane Featherstone, Naomi de Pear, and Tim Bricknell. I also got to talk with Ted Lasso‘s Toheeb Jimoh and Heather Agyepong about the Nigeria-set sequences. Ria Zmitrowicz and Eddie Marsan talked about playing their father-daughter dynamic, Zrinka Cvitešić discussed learning Romanian, Edwina Findley reflected on growing up in a political space and how that informed her role, while Auli’i Cravalho and Halle Bush talked about playing teens wrestling with their new powers. I also spoke with Toni Collette and John Leguizamo about anchoring the core relationship at the center of this series and how it felt to be in this vital story. Check out the full interviews in the embed abov.
The Power premieres on March 31st on Prime Video.
