Omari Hardwick is no stranger to commanding attention, whether he is lighting up the screen with his intensity or captivating audiences with his lyrical prowess. Best known for his breakout role as the enigmatic James “Ghost” St. Patrick in “Power,” the Georgia native has seamlessly built a career spanning television, film and now — poetry.

This year, the multi-hyphenate talent adds yet another accolade to his resume: a Grammy Award nomination for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. The project, cOncrete & wHiskey Act II Part 1: A Bourbon 30 Series, is a rich tapestry of reflection, resilience and raw storytelling — showcasing Hardwick’s ability to wield words with the same precision as he does his performances. It is a full-circle moment for a man who has always considered spoken word to be the heartbeat of his artistry.

As if the Grammy nod was not enough, Hardwick is also set to boldly go where no man has gone before, joining the Star Trek universe in the highly anticipated Star Trek: Section 31. Starring opposite Michelle Yeoh, Hardwick plays Alok, a Section 31 agent described as a "strategic mastermind" grappling with a host of mental issues. Alok’s complexity shines as he devises a covert mission that forces Philippa Georgiou (Yeoh) to reckon with her past in order to join his team. The role marks yet another chapter in Hardwick’s career, blending his ability to channel deep emotional intensity with the gravitas of navigating a beloved sci-fi legacy. Whether commanding starships or commanding a stage, the award-winning actor continues to prove that no medium is too big — or too small — for his magnetic presence. Check out the exclusive interview with the Decatur, GA, native himself below.

Audiences feel like they see less of you in movies and TV over the years. Is that a matter of being selective, or do you feel there is a lack of roles that truly resonate with you?

I would say it has to be a combination of both the latter and former parts of your question. There is a third entity that is often not talked about, and that is the fanship. Unlike when you and I were younger, [it] is now insatiable because they expect things to come every five minutes. This question would have never been asked of a predecessor in my position, from [George] Clooney to [Don] Cheadle to Will [Smith] to Denzel [Washington] to Paul Newman, all the way to [Marlon] Brando. You got the product when you got it, and we [were] working our a**es off to give it to you as a fan base probably within a year to two years back in the day (laughs). There was not this immediacy of I want Starbucks in this way, in this cup right now.

It is very much the way that I have to start [my] answer to the question. It is often super flattering because it is so humbling for people to go, “I want to see you so much.” I have never — outside of deciding to be home to your point of a purposeful nature, to be home for a season or two, to be home for four months because my child, Brave, is playing travel basketball or my child, Nova, is playing travel volleyball… Outside of that, I am pretty much always working… aside from the strike, which was COVID part two, and COVID.

Coming out of COVID, I had a thriller series called “Pieces of Her” and then the unreleased film, The Mothership that was with Halle Berry. It was such a great project, and this was probably my first dive into sci-fi. When I first read the script, I actually envisioned the role Halle played going to someone like Amy Adams and my role going to someone like Chris Pine. Ironically, he is no stranger to the Star Trek world, but nonetheless, it was Halle and Omari, and it was pretty amazing but unfortunately, the world will not see it. After, we had the film The Mother with Jennifer Lopez, and one of your favorites, Fantasy Football, with Marsai Martin and Kelly Rowland. Four jobs in a row, and then I needed a break. I had done seven seasons of “Power,” which averaged 16-hour days.

It is really a bit of the fan base being spoiled in a way that we were not allowed to be. As for selectivity, I am really big on the noes versus the yesses. At this point, my stature keeps increasing, which Spike Lee challenged me years ago. He told me, “I need your stature to match your talent.” He felt, talent-wise, very proud of me, but stature-wise, he wanted that to parallel with it. At this point, to be able to execute that objective, I have to make sure that I am super selective.

What aspects of humanity — such as moral and philosophical dilemmas — were you most drawn to explore through your character, Alok, in Star Trek: Section 31?

I always fancied that within the sci-fi space, none of us were strangers to Star Wars being something that we had a penchant for. Perhaps it could have been a combination of both Star Trek and what I always feigned. George Lucas did such a great job with the world of Star Wars in presenting or delivering what was the moral compass via this dilemma that you speak about as it pertained to religious affiliations. There were religious tones, not just in tonality, but foundationally. I think that franchise was built upon that more religious template.

Star Trek to me really won me over in the sense that it was simply a line drawn in the sand. It did not have any religious foundation to it, but it was simply, “Are you on the good side or are you on the bad side?” “Are you on the dark side or are you on the light side?” Not that Star Wars did not touch that equally, but I think [Gene] Roddenberry — and his colleagues and contemporaries who built a 60+ year franchise — nailed it in terms of you do not even necessarily have to be a religious affiliate, left or right … All that matters is when s**t hits the fan and when the dust clears and the smoke settles, or vice versa, what side are you on?

I think ironically, Alok is super about straddling that line. He understands that he wants to do good, but he knows that he might need to be a little bad enough (laughs), perhaps in a very lighter version of what Ghost’s version or definition of bad would be. I think Alok knows, “I need to be bad enough to be able to accomplish with this team that I've corralled. I need to be able to be bad enough or know bad enough to be able to bring good to the galaxies, Earth included.”

Gianni Paolo recently claimed Ghost is not technically dead, sparking even more speculation about James St. Patrick’s fate. How do you view the possibility of his story continuing — do you feel his journey is truly complete? What is something about James that fans never understood but you wish they had?

There is a bounty of things that were never known or revealed about Ghost. He is mystery galore — a steroid version of mystery. That is an insatiability that I welcome. Courtney Kemp and Curtis Jackson did such a great job of building a universe around the guy and we want to know about [him]. So, when you want to know about the guy, you want the prelude, right? The prelude to the kiss or the prelude to the shot. All the things we saw him do dynamically, we want to see what he was 20 years back.

I understand that in terms of me being able to reprise versions of that, they could welcome themselves back to a couch on Sunday night and be able to watch whatever or whatever night that was shown. I almost think it would be my voice that would best serve that in terms of me being a narrator. That is how I have envisioned it. [I] have not had any conversations with the powers that be, pun intended, but I would welcome that. I would absolutely welcome Courtney and Curtis calling me and us sitting down and talking about how that looks and how that could present itself to the fans in terms of what they want. They do want to know more about Ghost, and I understand that.