Method Man discusses his "intimidating" 'Power Book II' character and why Johnnie Cochran served as inspiration

Method Man had some pretty big shoes to fill when he took on the role of criminal defense attorney Davis Maclean in Power Book II: Ghost.

The Grammy-Award winner tells ABC Audio that he stepped into uncharted territory when he signed on to play the gutsy lawyer who defends alleged queen pin Tasha St. Patrick.

"I'm not going to lie, it was a bit intimidating at first," Method Man says. "Especially not being familiar with that world and a lot of the lawyer jargon -- the legalese, so to speak. But as time went on and we got in to shooting a little bit more... we were off to the races."

To perfect the complex character, Method Man says his first step was to, "develop a kind of a backstory for Davis."

"You know, maybe he was from a hood family...but he was smart, very smart, which we have a lot of in the hood," he explains. "And maybe he had an uncle who was a fiend, a father [that] was an alcoholic... who knows? But he was mentored by a man who took him under his wing, who saw his brilliance and brought him up through the ranks to be a lawyer."

Method Man says after he had "that backstory put into place" his next step was to "reference a real person." According to Meth, the perfect person to mirror his character after was Johnnie Cochran.

"He can give you street smarts as well as book smarts and intertwine the two," Method Man says. "'If the glove don't fit, you must acquit.' So you want to incorporate that to keep him grounded so people can relate to him -- which is brilliant on Johnnie's part because he did that so the jury could relate to him."

Power Book II: Ghost airs Sundays night on Starz.

By Candice Williams
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.