Creative Collaborations: The World of Michael Rainey Jr.

Michael Rainey, Jr. is a busy actor these days. He currently stars in the Starz series Power Book II: Ghost, but not only is Rainey busy working on television, but he is also involved in projects such as starting his own entertainment company and podcast.

All of these projects are coming to light due to the actor’s desire to make a new for himself in Hollywood beyond actor. Here is a look at Michael’s journey from actor to producer and beyond.

Michael’s early roles included recurring roles in the Emmy-winning show Orange is the New Black as well as movies such as 211 and Barbershop: The New Cut.

While Michael Rainey, Jr has experienced some success in Hollywood, he has also made efforts to branch out a bit from acting. His Instagram account has over 3 million followers. Throughout his time in the public eye, Michael Rainey, Jr always makes an effort to both entertain his fanbase and help those who are in need.

One of the creative projects that Michael Rainey, Jr is working on is an entertainment company that he started with Gianni Paolo, a fellow castmate in the Power tv series. The first undertaking of Twenty Two Entertainment is a podcast called “The Crew Has It.”

Michael and Gianni host the podcast, which was launched in 2021 and founded along with John Ryan, Jr and Kenan Thompson, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.

We are excited to partner with John and Kenan at AFA. They are big supporters of artists, and they allow artists to have control and ownership of their work, which is important in this new multimedia wave of the industry,” Michael and Gianni said in a statement.

While Michael is an actor and entrepreneur extraordinaire, he doesn’t want to stop there. He also supports many organizations through both his time and money. One of the many non-profit organizations he supports is “Find and Feed”, an Indiana-based organization that helps to feed, clothe, and find permanent homes for the homeless.

He also hopes to do more charity work in Jamaica, telling Splash, “When I was in Jamaica, I went to the Jamaica National Children's Home and we started to buy and collect things for the children. We will be sending down the things very soon. We also bought some baby items for another home,” he disclosed. “If we can, we will help others as well, so I'm hoping to get other persons involved so that we can help more.”

Michael Rainey Jr. will always continue to seek out new roles in television and movies — but he also loves to participate in collaborative ventures with different castmates and other Hollywood stars. As a result of his busy career, he doesn’t have a ton of time to himself, but what’s apparent is that he will always make time to stretch himself and his talents as far as they can go.