Halle Bush, Auli’i Cravalho & Edwina Findley Interview: The Power

This month, Amazon Prime will debut The Power, a new series based on the Naomi Alderman novel of the same name. The show follows the stories of several women across the world as the new phenomenon of the skeins organ takes hold. Evolved for survival and present only in women, the skein puts the power balance of the world in flux by allowing them to produce powerful electricity, quickly setting in motion large-scale change.

Auli’i Cravalho, the Moana star recently cast in Mean Girls, plays the role of Jos Cleary-Lopez, daughter of Seattle mayor Margot Cleary (Toni Collette) and Rob Lopez (John Leguizamo) and one of the first to awaken her electric powers. Edwina Findley, who's made appearances in shows like Fear the Walking Dead, has a story interwoven with Margot's as she helps her navigate the new Power from a political angle. In a breakout role for Halle Bush, her character Alison utilizes the Power to escape an abusive foster home before finding her new purpose at a convent.

Screen Rant sat down with Halle Bush, Auli’i Cravalho, and Edwina Findley to discuss their characters' journeys in The Power and opinions on skeins.

Halle Bush, Auli’i Cravalho, & Edwina Findley on The Power

Screen Rant: Auli'i, one of my favorite things about The Power was the relationship between Jos and her mother and how it evolves over the course of the show. How do you feel like her opinion of her mother changes over the course of this series, and what was it like building that dynamic with Toni Collette?

Auli’i Cravalho: Working with Toni Collette was absolutely amazing. From an acting standpoint, I've always respected her work, and then to see her in action, it was like a masterclass, truly. The scenes that I had with her, it didn't really feel like I was acting, it was just so real to me. When we meet Jos, she is longing for a mother who will listen and really see her, and I think the Power is what makes Margot see Jos in a completely different light. Because, truly, Jos has it easy; she lives a sheltered life, she has two incredible parents.

And Margot doesn't have to worry as much about her daughters, or her son for that matter, because they're taken care of by an incredible patriarch, Rob. But the Power changes everything, it puts a target on her daughter's back and introduces her to this new struggle of a new generation. So Jos shares the power with Margot, that is an incredible scene and bonds them forever. I really appreciated that. And as it goes on, Jos also begins to look at her mother in a new light, because the world is changing so rapidly, and she realizes that we need a woman in control in the government to advocate for us.

Halle, Alison's character really stands out for a lot of reasons, particularly because of how she's interconnected with themes of religion and power. It's clear that your character does have faith, but in your opinion is that where her true motivations lie, or is she driven by something else at her core?

Halle Bush: I feel like she's kind of driven by something else, because Allie's been looking for that home and a place where she belongs. So when she ends up at the convent, she sees these girls need something to believe in, and she becomes that person that they can believe in. But then she also found that family she was always looking for and that motherly love that she was always looking for as well. So I would say that it was more of, "I want a family who I can truly call my family. I want a support group and I want that motherly love." And she found all of that at the convent.

Edwina, Helen is in a really tough spot being so connected to the world of political optics as the skeins phenomenon gains traction. Would you say overall that your character views skeins as more of a net positive or negative?

Edwina Findley: I think that she definitely sees skeins as an incredible challenge, let's just say that. [Laughs] It is an obstacle to overcome. Because when we launched into that first episode, the world's on fire, things are burning down, it's chaos that cannot be explained. And as Helen is searching and looking and trying to get ahead of it, we begin to realize that there are young women around the world who have the power to set things on fire.

And when you think about that combination along with age, and in some cases a lack of maturity and wisdom, you really ask the question, "What do you do with the power when you have it? Are you able to use it for good? Are you using it for destruction?" So I think on the political side, we're really trying to balance the destruction that's happening in the world, but I think we go on our own journey too of understanding that this new Power and the skein can be used for good as well; how can we harness it to do that?

More About The Power

The Power is an emotionally-driven global thriller, based on Naomi Alderman’s international award-winning novel. The Power is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly, and without warning, teenage girls develop the power to electrocute people at will. The series features a cast of remarkable characters from London to Seattle, Nigeria to Eastern Europe, as the Power evolves from a tingle in teenagers’ collarbones to a complete reversal of the power balance of the world.

Check out our other The Power interviews here:

The first three episodes of The Power will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on March 31, with new episodes available each Friday.