''The Power'' is an upcoming British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series developed by

Raelle Tucker Raelle Tucker is an American playwright, television writer, producer, and showrunner, best known for her work on HBO's ''True Blood'', Netflix's ''Jessica Jones'', and for the Facebook Watch series ''Sacred Lies'', which she created based on Steph ...

Naomi Alderman Naomi Alderman (born 1974) is an English novelist and game writer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel '' The Power'', which won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2017. Biography Alderman was born in London, the daught ...

, and Sarah Quintrell for Amazon Prime Video, based on Alderman's 2016 novel of the same name. The first season is expected to consist of nine episodes, and is scheduled to premiere on March 31, 2023.

Premise

The world of ''The Power'' is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly, and without warning, all teenage girls in the world develop the power to electrocute people at will. It's hereditary, it's inbuilt, and it can't be taken away from them. Coming alive to the thrill of pure power: the ability to hurt or even kill by releasing electrical jolts from their fingertips, they rapidly learn they can awaken the Power in older women. Soon enough nearly every woman in the world can do it. And then everything is different.

Cast and characters

Main

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...

as Margot Cleary-Lopez: The mayor of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and a mother of three kids. *

Auliʻi Cravalho Chloe Auliʻi Cravalho (; born November 22, 2000) is an American actress and singer who made her acting debut as the voice of the titular character in the 2016 Disney 3D computer-animated musical feature film '' Moana''. She went on to star in ...

as Jos Cleary-Lopez: Margot's daughter. *

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...

as Rob: Margot's husband. * Toheeb Jimoh as Tunde: An aspiring

video journalist Video journalism or videojournalism is a form of journalism, where the journalist shoots, edits and often presents his or her own video material. Background A predecessor to video journalism first appeared in the 1960s in the USA, when reporters h ...

with big dreams. *

Ria Zmitrowicz Ria Zmitrowicz (born 1990/1991) is an actress. She is known for her work in theatre, earning WhatOnStage and Manchester Theatre Award nominations, and her role in the BBC drama '' Three Girls'' (2017). She was named a 2018 BAFTA Breakthrough ...

as Roxy Monke: The illegitimate daughter of Bernie Monke. * Halle Bush as Allie *

Nico Hiraga Nico Hiraga (born December 19, 1997) is an American skateboarder and actor. He is known for playing Seth in the 2021 film ''Moxie'' and Tanner in the 2019 film ''Booksmart''. Hiraga's roles also include ''Summer of 17'', '' Skate Kitchen'', ''Bal ...

as Ryan *

Heather Agyepong Heather Akosua Agyepong is a British photographer, visual artist, performer and actor, living in London. Her work is held in the collection of Mead Art Museum. Early life and education Agyepong was born and raised in London and is of Ghanaian he ...

as Ndudi: Tunde's close friend. * Daniela Vega as Sister Maria *

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...

as Bernie Monke: A feared

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

crime boss. * Archie Rush as Darrell Monke * Gerrison Machado as Matt Cleary-Lopez * Pietra Castro as Izzy Cleary-Lopez *

Zrinka Cvitešić Zrinka Cvitešić (born 18 July 1979) is a Croatian film, television and theatre actress. Biography The elder of two daughters, Zrinka Cvitešić was born in Karlovac, in the Karlovac County to Ivan and Višnja Cvitešić. Her mother played or ...

as Tatiana Moskalev: The wife of the Moldovan President Viktor Moskalev.

Recurring

* Josh Charles as Daniel Dandon: The Governor of

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

and a "constant thorn" in the side of Margot Cleary-Lopez. *

Rob Delaney Rob Delaney (born January 19, 1977) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and activist. He was the co-star and co-writer of the TV show ''Catastrophe'', and has appeared in comedy films such as ''Deadpool 2'' (2018) and ''Tom & Jerry'' (2021). ...

as Tom *

Alice Eve Alice Sophia Eve (born ) is a British actress. Her movie career includes roles in ''She's Out of My League'', ''Men in Black 3'', ''Star Trek Into Darkness'', and '' Before We Go''. She has had recurring roles on the TV series ''Entourage'' and ...

as Kristen *

Edwina Findley Edwina Findley, also known as Edwina Findley Dickerson, is an American actress. In 2014, Findley began starring as one of lead characters in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, '' If Loving You Is Wrong''. Findley is also known for her recu ...

as Helen: Margot Cleary-Lopez's highly competent and trusted advisor. *

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (born 18 January 1988) is an English actor. He has played the role of Francis Weston in the BBC series ''Wolf Hall'' (2015), Francesco Salviati in '' Medici'' (2018), and Townes in the Netflix chess period drama '' The Queen' ...

as Ricky Monke * Avital Lvova as Liat Monke * Sam Buchanan as Terry Monke *

Juliet Cowan Juliet Cowan (born 21 May 1974 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a British television, film and stage actress. Cowan has had various TV guest star roles in long-running shows such as ''EastEnders'', ''Silent Witness'' and '' Casualty''. Cowan has ...

as Barbara Monke * Simbi Ajikawo as Adunola * Ana Ularu as Zoia: Tatiana's sister.

Episodes

The third episode is written by

& Sue Chung, and the sixth is written by Stacy Osei-Kuffour and Raelle Tucker & Brennan Peters.

Production

Development

In February 2019, it was announced that

Jane Featherstone Jane Featherstone (born 1969) is an English television producer and founder of Sister Pictures, a television production company. Prior to that, she was the chief executive of Kudos and co-chairman of Shine UK, now part of Endemol Shine Group. ...

and

Reed Morano Reed Morano (born April 15, 1977) is an American film director and cinematographer. Morano was the first woman in history to win both the Emmy and Directors Guild Award for directing a drama series in the same year for the pilot episode of The H ...

would adapt ''The Power'' for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

. The production company Sister Pictures had previously optioned the book in 2016. ''The Power'' was created by

, who wrote the novel on which the series is based. The series is executive produced by Featherstone, Naomi de Pear, Alderman, Claire Wilson, and Raelle Tucker and produced by Tim Bricknell.

Writing

The series has an all-female writers room, which includes Claire Wilson, Sarah Quintrell, Whit Anderson, Stacy Osei-Kuffour,

Rebecca Levene Rebecca Levene is a British author and editor. She is the author of ''The Hollow Gods'' fantasy novel series. In the 1990s, she was an editor at Virgin Books, including notably of the New Adventures series. Biography Levene had a sitcom optione ...

, and Sue Chung. Quintrell also serves as co-executive producer and story consultant.

Casting

In late October 2019,

Leslie Mann Leslie Jean Mann (born March 26, 1972) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including ''The Cable Guy'' (1996), ''George of the Jungle'' (1997), '' Big Daddy'' (1999), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 17 Again'' (2009), '' Funn ...

was cast as Margot Cleary-Lopez.

was cast the next month as Jos Cleary-Lopez. In January 2020,

, Toheeb Jimoh,

, Halle Bush,

and Daniela Vega were cast. Later that month,

was cast as Bernie Monke. In February,

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Em ...

was cast as Daniel Dandon, but was replaced by

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his rol ...

in January 2021 due to scheduling conflicts caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The next month,

, Sam Buchanan,

, and Simbi Ajikawo were cast in recurring roles. Archie Rush, Gerrison Machado, Pietra Castro and

were cast as series regulars. In April, Ana Ularu was cast as Zoia. In May 2022, it was reported that Mann and Robbins had dropped out of the series. In August, it was announced that their roles would be assumed by

and Josh Charles, respectively.

Filming

The series was set to start production in late 2019 in Georgia, but withdrew due to a newly-signed abortion law. Filming began in early February 2020 but was paused in March due to the

. Filming occurred in

Fairford Fairford is a town in Gloucestershire, England. The town lies in the Cotswold hills on the River Coln, east of Cirencester, west of Lechlade and north of Swindon. Nearby are RAF Fairford and the Cotswold Water Park. History Evidence of ...

and

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...

. Other shooting locations included the

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and outdoor athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building which ...

and

Bawdsey Bawdsey is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, eastern England. Located on the other side of the river Deben from Felixstowe, it had an estimated population of 340 in 2007, reducing to 276 at the Census 2011. Bawdsey Manor is notable as the ...

, which was chosen to take the place of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, where filming was supposed to occur before the pandemic. In late October 2021, the series filmed near

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Power (Tv Series), The Upcoming drama television series Amazon Prime Video original programming 2023 British television series debuts 2020s British drama television series British thriller television series Television series by Amazon Studios Television shows based on British novels Television shows filmed in the United Kingdom Television shows filmed in England Television shows filmed in Namibia Television productions postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic English-language television shows