Patina Miller recently shed light on a powerful moment in Power Book III: Raising Kanan, explaining why portraying Raq’s abortion felt not just important but necessary.
Speaking to PEOPLE, the 40-year-old actress and singer shared that she was surprised but happy about her character’s big moment in the season 4 premiere.
Expressing her feelings, Miller quipped, “I was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re going here. But yes, please.’ You know what I mean? I felt it was necessary.”
For the unversed, the episode, which showed how Unique (Joey Bada$$) survived after Ronnie (Grantham Coleman) left him for dead, gave more details about the second half of season 3.
In the episode, Raq found out she was pregnant with Unique’s baby, whom she had considered dead.
However, when she knew the reality, she decided to get an abortion.
Taking this into account, Miller articulated, “It gives the character — and the audience — something to really think about. I mean, there’s this strong woman who is successful … but having this very real human moment that happens so much.”
“It doesn’t matter how she looks, where she is — it is a universal thing. And I think that for us to talk about it in this show and for Raq to make the choice to go about something so personal, something so huge, by herself, and not feel any guilt and shame around it, which is what we are taught to sometimes feel — it was great,” The Hunger Games star noted.
She went on to highlight that this new part of Raq’s story happened “somewhere in season 3 between episodes 5 and 10,” which makes the story for her “even more explosive, even more dynamic.”
“You really feel for the character more. That was a very real, raw, vulnerable moment for Raquel to have. And she had this moment alone — like she does a lot of the time. And it’s an incredible moment that I think is needed and really says a lot about who she is, and accepting that that’s not the right choice for her,” Patina Miller concluded.
It is pertinent to mention that Power Book III: Raising Kanan season 4 is now streaming on Starz.
