Courtney A. Kemp

As a writer of fiction, you don't ever want to limit the characters you create to the life you've lived. That's insanity to me. ”

I want to tell more stories about lying, dual lives, self-deception - those are my favorites. ”

The Shawshank Redemption' isn't a movie about a black guy and a white guy who become friends - it's a movie about freedom. At the end, the cathartic experience of seeing our own emotions reflected back to us, that's the purpose of storytelling. ”

When you pretend to be an authority on everything, it forces your subordinates to defer to your opinion - which may not be the most informed in the room. If you have humility concerning the gaps in your experience or ability, it allows others to shine. ”

Ultimately, at the end of the day, taking a chance on 'Power' is taking a chance on me. ”

Humans are powerless, and even in our exercise of free will, either the Universe is gonna get down with your plan, or it isn't. ”

When I was pitching 'Power,' I had an executive say, 'Well, I already have a black show.' He said that right to my face. ”

What I'm about to say won't be popular, but it's true: If being a television showrunner is the job you want, and you are a woman, I would not suggest you have children. The reality is that you just cannot do both well. ”

There are some aspects of the story of 'Power' that clearly are about race in the sense that any one of us now who's black and was raised in this country was raised with a lie, which is, 'You can never be president.' That's not true. ”

When it comes to power as it functions between humans, it all comes down to desire. If you know what someone wants, you can control them. It is as simple as that. And the reverse is also true: If you have control over your own desires, no one will ever own you. As humans, we are plagued with desire - it consumes us, it fuels us, it destroys us. ”