Logo text
[Thisstorycontainsmajorspoilersfortheentirefirstseason[Thisstorycontainsmajorspoilersfromtheentirefirstseasonofenemy.]
Courtney Kemp has earned her place as one of television’s most powerful creators. She launched her first series in 2014 with the crime drama power With no established stars on Starz, which boasted other originals. power It turned into an addictive hit, and eventually the record’s success reached the point where power It was signed on in 2020 as premium cable’s top-rated scripted series. but power The universe was just beginning. Three spin-offs have already hit the airwaves, and there are highly anticipated prequels and sequels on the way. Four years after she left her day job Book of Power II: GhostNow, Kemp is back with her first series on Netflix — and she’s called an unrepeatable winner.
“I feel like what I do is a bit like Bruno Mars, in that there will never be another Bruno Mars,” Kemp says. Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t think people understand why power He works. They saw it from the outside and said, “Oh, this is a drug show.” But it’s not really a drug show. It’s a Shakespearean drama of morality, and everyone’s in the modern age; They say the N-word a lot. I’m glad no one discovered my formula. If someone comes along and says, “I’m the new Bruno Mars,” they’ll never be the new Bruno Mars. Whether you like him or not, you have to respect the game. The man knows what he’s doing, and he can be whatever he wants to be at any time. This is what I do.
Admittedly, it took Kemp some time to find what she wanted to do at Netflix, having signed a lucrative production deal with the company in August 2021. She attributes the long wait for her streaming debut to dealing with the loss of her brother and learning the Netflix machine. But, after originally looking to try something completely new, Kemp found herself drawn to the idea of returning to the world of high-stakes crime dramas.
And the result was enemyan explosive cat-and-mouse game between a cop and a robber. It was created by Kemp and his fiancée, Tani Marole heatThriller style stars Abbott ElementaryMatthew Law as LAPD Detective Isaiah Stiles and insecureAlan Noel as master criminal Coltrane Wilder. When his partner is killed in a robbery, Stiles becomes obsessed with finding the crew responsible, and soon captures Wilder, who, in classic thief fashion, plans one last mission before riding off into the sunset.
Over eight episodes, the first season of enemy It rips through more action and fiery stories than most shows can do over the course of several years. There are several robberies, a huge high-profile shootout on the streets of Los Angeles, a couple of grisly deaths and a lot of pending issues left on the table. Late in the finale, Stiles goes after Wilder, but Stiles’ teenage son Noah (Cedric Joe) seeks revenge for Wilder killing his grandfather. Also in the mix is a cartel gunman, who shot and wounded Noah, and Styles was mainly responsible because he had previously asked the cartel leader to help him arrest Wilder. In the end, Styles must choose between helping his son or allowing Wilder to escape. The cop allows his enemy to escape, but before he does, Wilder declares: “You’ll never win.”
“Netflix asked us to package it somewhere where it wouldn’t need a second season, and I said, ‘I bet we won’t do that,’” Kemp says with a laugh. “But we knew we didn’t want Coltrane to get caught. “We didn’t want to feel like you did it all for nothing, sort of.”
Kemp admits she was moved by the lessons learned from fan reaction to the film’s conclusion power. A little more than halfway through the final season, Kemp killed off her main character, drug lord Ghost (Omari Hardwick), and spent the last five episodes using Rashomon-style storytelling to uncover the killer’s identity.
“I thought I was playing fair to the audience, as I told you guys in the first episode that drug dealers are either dead or in prison, so I feel like those are the only two options,” Kemp says. “But what I learned from that experience is that making the audience fall in love with someone means something, and so we wanted to make sure that both characters got their due in the end.”
With all eight episodes enemy Now streaming on Netflix, THR I spoke with Kemp about his desire for audiences to “chain smoke” this action-packed season and spend whatever it takes to keep the show in Los Angeles.
***
we I finally spoke to Book of Power II: Ghost At the end of Season 2, I said, “I’m really excited next time we talk about a Netflix show.” I doubt any of us would have imagined that there would be four years between talks! Are you surprised how long it took to sign on with Netflix until your first series premiered?
In 2021, my brother died, and I thought I could throw myself into work, but it didn’t work out that way; I wasn’t really myself. I was going to do very different things when I went to Netflix, rather than doing more of what people know. I didn’t know exactly what Netflix was looking for, and it took me a while to get it under my feet. And the Netflix process is not fast, it takes a long time to get things going. Everything went exactly as it should, because I’m very proud of this show. I’m actually excited about it, and it’s great to find that again. As much as it’s a collaboration with Tani, I feel like my voice is in this show, and I’m finally getting the feeling of being able to write the way I like to write.
The last time I created an original series was over a decade ago. How have things changed trying to launch a project, especially one that doesn’t have IP, an A-list, or black leads?
It’s very different because Starz is a mom and pop store. At that time, they were developing one or two shows at a time, and the show was so small that I was sharing an apartment with him [writer-producer] Moira Wally Beckett. She’s been there a while Flesh and bone He was shooting, and then I’ll be there when power He was shooting. And Netflix does 900 different things at once, and you really have to be loud to break through that kind of volume.
When you have black leads, the pressures are the same, trying to explain to people what is going to be attractive. I try to make shows that showcase people of color — black, brown, Asian — and queer people, and yet, the universal things are there. Everyone has a father, everyone has a mother, a lot of people have sons and daughters, and people are in relationships. And all of these dynamics are there, so whoever you are, you can find yourself in this show, as it should be. I’m not a New York City cop, but we all love John McClane (Bruce Willis Die hard). Why do we love him? Because we got to where he came from. This is what I’m trying to do.
power I paved the way for you and more power programs, but do you feel it has had the impact on the television landscape that it should? For example, I feel like each network was trying to find its own network YellowstoneI don’t understand why it wasn’t the same for me power.
I feel like what I do is a bit like Bruno Mars, in that there will never be another Bruno Mars. You could say that Bruno Mars is part Prince, part Michael Jackson, and part all of these other things. I was very influenced by Tom Fontana, David E. Kelley, Dick Wolf, all these people who were writing great crime TV shows when I was coming up. Every now and then at my shows you’ll see a Jake and Fatman Reference, I take from Miami Vice-I had sex DallasI did who shot JR! But when you put it all together, it’s its own thing. enemy It’s an action show, it’s also a family show, and it’s also a workplace show.
Going back to the Taylor Sheridan example, there were none of these wannabes Yellowstone The performances were c Handy too, because his unique sound cannot be replicated.
I totally agree. When you watch those shows, you feel like, Oh, this person thinks the setting is what does itAnd no, this is not the case. But it is what it is. I have imitators out there, and I’m happy for them to imitate them. People think that’s the drama, “Oh my God,” but you have to build those family relationships so that the “Oh my God” moments have some meaning.
By combining you with Netflix, I feel like you could have attracted some big name actors. Instead, I chose a pair of up-and-coming talents. What was the process like landing Matthew Whelan as Stiles and Coltrane?
This goes to where we are in the business now. We had a certain budget, and you can’t afford big stars on that budget; They wouldn’t do it for that amount of money. Early in the process, Netflix said, “We don’t think you need big stars for this show,” and I was like, “Okay, okay.”[[He laughs.]But this is where my experience comes in powerMy life didn’t do a lot of things. Joe Sikora played these small roles in the character, Lila [Loren] It wasn’t really known. It doesn’t matter, television can make stars. If the story is good, people will come.
Y’lan came in and had already decided how he was going to play Coltrane. He built this man from the ground up: the voice, the mannerisms, the presence, even the way he walked and talked. And the way he did the test was in the show. Matthew is a comedian, with a lighthearted, bubbly personality, and when he turns it on, you’re amazed at how present he is. We had a lot of guys come and try out with Yilan, and that’s what happened to me[on[onpower]With Al-Omari and Al-Natori [Naughton]where we auditioned for women my age but Natori was the only one who would take over and take up space. When Matthew came to read with Yilan, suddenly Yilan became a somewhat different actor; It wasn’t quiet. I was like, Oh, here we go, that’s it. You need the difference in their energy.
When we talked about power In the end, I was very excited about the possibility of Tommy (Sikora) going to Hollywood, but then his spinoff ended up in Chicago. Now I’ve finally arrived in Los Angeles enemyand it looks like you went out of your way to make sure you photographed here. How important is this to you?
He was everything to me. Netflix was willing to do it in Los Angeles, but initially preferred us to go to Atlanta. Then, over time, they understood, and we had fires and they were really supportive of the fact that we were shooting in Los Angeles, but it didn’t change our budget, which is not easy, especially since this is a high-action show – as you know by now, at the top of episode six we did a big fire! And so I spent all the money. But I spent the money to keep it in L.A. because L.A. is important. We have great craftsmen, we have great artists who need work. The main reason is because I am the mother of an amazing child, and I left my child before filming in New York for years, and I want to be here.
One of the things I appreciate most enemy It’s how you guys didn’t hold back. In an age where a lot of TV shows seem to play out in slow motion, going at breakneck speed, with several heists out of the gate, the main character exited midway through, and a massive shootout long before the end. Were you determined to just dump the clip and not worry about putting it off for future seasons?
definitely. We didn’t want to leave anything on the field. Tani might say something like, “There are 24 frames per second, and the rent is due by the minute.” We were constantly focused on the best possible story we could tell in the shortest possible time. It was very different from powerwhere I will fill every 58 minutes and 30 seconds of that hour I am allowed. This, just get it, get it, get it! Because we wanted you to feel like you can’t stop watching this. “We want people to chain smoke these rings,” Tani might say. As opposed to having a week for people to talk about the suspense you left powerNow that’s “I want you to stay in your seat.” So, the different rhythms and dynamics of storytelling have to be very fast. I wanted it to sound exactly like what you’re saying, which is, “Well, they wouldn’t do that… Oh my God, they did!”
I guarantee that no one will get to the end of episode five and not immediately click play episode six. How did you pull that off? heat-Penalty kicks off? When you live in Los Angeles, obviously you’ve really been on these streets.
For the second episode of powerI wrote that Jost and Angela (Loren) go to the American Museum of Natural History, and everyone told me, “They’ll never let you film there,” and I said to myself, “I do.” I wasn’t told that a few different times…and then we shot it. That’s how I felt about this. Tani was very adamant about how to do it, so I said, “We can’t afford to shoot for four days, so how are we going to do it in a way that we can afford?” This means removing other scenes.
But I wanted to be in L.A., and I wanted to be known. When you watch it, as an Angeleno, you will feel, Oh, they’re in Century City! Oh my god, they actually did this shit. And of course there is a heat Cheers, but I like to take something you already know and add something to it. So, to me, what’s so great about this scene is the moment when Stiles sees that his father is the one shooting him – I mean, damn! Now we’ve added this whole other level. But it was difficult to shoot that in the middle of that, so we had to add an extra day of shooting to get really good close-ups and get that emotional story across. We really had to break that sequence down as if it were its own movie.
What led to the decision to conclude the first season with Coltrane on the run, rather than in handcuffs?
Netflix asked us to package it somewhere where it wouldn’t need a second season, and I said, “I bet we won’t do that.” But we knew we didn’t want Coltrane to get caught in the end. We didn’t want to feel like you did it all for nothing, somehow. And I’ll admit, I learned a little from people’s reaction to Ghost’s death. I thought I was playing fair with the audience, as I told you guys in the first episode that drug dealers are either dead or in prison, so I feel like those are the only two options. But what I learned from that experience is that making the audience fall in love with someone means something, and so we wanted to make sure that both characters got their due.
Even though his marriage was in shambles, Stiles chose to save his son, so he learned something. It may be too late, but he’s grown up. And in that moment at the end, Coltrane knows what it means to lose a child, and he says, “Save your son.” He had this wonderful moment of beautiful redemption in his own way, even though you saw him kill a bunch of people.
It’s not uncommon for teenage children to be placed in the middle of their father’s dangerous job. And just like Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) did. powerNoah does teenage things and makes life more difficult for his father, putting them both in danger. At one point, fans were getting so frustrated with Tarek’s actions that they felt let down Michael was receiving death threats. However, he and you have the last laugh because Tariq is now a darling and a hero power universe. After the events of the past few days enemy Episodes: Are you ready for the comparisons between Noah and Tariq?
I’m always wrestling with inheritance, genetics, and nature versus nurture. I think I mentioned to you before that my father once told me that he saw me as another son, even though I was not one. And some of the things I’m still trying to sort out are, how much am I like my father? I mean that’s pretty universal. From the beginning, Stiles says he’s nothing like Nightmare, and as the audience, I assume you’re like, “No, you’re just like him.” There’s a moment where Noah says to his other grandfather, “Am I going to be just like them,” and he says, “No, because you’re better than them.” But, because you know me as a writer, all things What happened to Noah – upbringing and trauma – may not have been so great. But whose fault is it?
So, yeah, I feel like people will compare him to Tariq, but he’s different from Tariq. Tariq didn’t have many other options. Tariq was always hanging out at school and doing stupid things. He wasn’t a good kid. Noah is a good kid. We are trying to tell a different story. Also, Tasha (Naughton) and Noah’s mother are not the same.[[He laughs.]
Having interviewed you on season finales several times over the years, I probably shouldn’t even be asking you to tease a potential second season.
Boy, you know me best!
But I have to try! So what would you feel comfortable sharing about what Season 2 will look like?
I think we’ve made it pretty clear that there are some consequences coming for Styles. And I think we definitely end the season where Coltrane is going to have to search for his wife. And that’s pretty much all I can say.
I got away from running power Appears after the second season of ghostHow involved are you in the various prequels and sequels? All the fans are very excited about the Ghost and Tommy Origin series and The rumored team-up of Tommy and Tarek.
These are my boys, Ghost and Tommy, so I’m involved in that Origins. Sasha [Penn] He runs it, and I’m very careful not to cross it, because I can’t give it my full attention, so it would be really messed up to dip in and out of it, so I kind of leave it up to him. But Sasha was a writer power For the first year, so we share a lot of the same ideas about what the show should look like. We’re waiting to hear when the Tariq and Tommy spinoff will happen. I’m really happy OriginsI think people will really like it.
***
Nemesis is now streaming all episodes on Netflix.
