What if girls ruled the world? Amazon Prime Video's The Power, based on the bestselling book of the same name by Naomi Alderman, aims to answer this question. The series centers on the individual stories of several different women who, after enduring misogyny, abuse, and sexism, suddenly develop the power to shoot electricity straight from their fingertips.
Zrinka Cvitešić stars as Tatiana Moskalev, the unhappy wife of the President of Moldova, Halle Bush plays Allie, a foster-turned-outlaw struggling to find her voice, with Heather Agyepong portraying Ndudi – one of the very first people to be injured by 'the power.' Total Film spoke to the three about the show's message and what 'the power' means to them.
Total Film: Tatiana's story is interesting because she's an adult, but we frequently flashed back to her painful childhood. Do you feel like her story is initially juxtaposed with the other teen girls because she never really had a chance to be one?
Zrinka Cvitešić: I'm really grateful that they showed this part of her life, her childhood, because it gives us perspective on what damage does to a kid when the kid lives without love, understanding, emotional protection of their parents – all of that. I'm really happy about that because I don't think any kid should live without love, especially.
Allie has this amazing transformation, from essentially being unable to find her voice, to becoming this incredible leader. Can you talk about playing her like, or what kind of head space you were in?
Halle Bush: It's an amazing storyline and really I just wanted to mentally, spiritually, and physically put myself in Allie's shoes to display it the best way I can. And in the beginning, you do see her mute, and then throughout the series, you see that she's slowly gaining confidence in her voice. And as she's surviving the brutal attack, it's kind of like the tip of the iceberg because she's taking control of her body again in the abusive home.
I feel like that was the tip of the iceberg and The Voice really helps her gain confidence within her body and within speaking out, because throughout the series you see what Allie says to the girls that she meets in the convent who love her and believe in her is literally the stuff that The Voice told her when her herself was mute. So it's a really beautiful story. It's – what's that saying? The student becoming the master in a way.
Do you feel like the electricity is a metaphor for female empowerment by way of like a Marvel-esque superpower, or do you feel like it's more rooted in history like the Salem witch trials?
ZC: To me it feels more like taking your life and your destiny and responsibility for yourself into your own hands of that. Yeah. So with this series it's the electricity, but it's a metaphor for 'live your life as you want to.'
Heather Agyepong: I think you can kind of project whatever you want on it, if you want it to be historical or not, but I think it's about agency, what you said, Zrinka, about everybody having agency and women having the freedom to choose. So I think it's generally that feels like what it's more rooted in.
The Power is set to hit Prime Video on March 31, with all nine episodes available to stream. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2023 and beyond.
