Photo courtesy of Paramount Corporation
It just takes one mention of Atlanta for Omari Hardwick to start beaming about his hometown. “I’ll always give Atlanta credit for shaping who I am,” he says. “There’s a quality to Atlanta that allows Black people to be unapologetic and gives them permission to try something that’s interesting and true.”
Even now, at the age of 51, Hardwick (known for his roles in Starz’s Power, Army of The Dead, and most recently, Star Trek: Section 31 on Paramount+), says he remains “unapologetically confident” whenever he walks into a meeting or audition.
Raised in Decatur, Hardwick was both artistic and athletic as a student at Marist School. He wrote poetry, then got into the University of Georgia on a football scholarship, which is where he became even more interested in acting and performing.
After filming season four of Power, Hardwick was all set to shoot a movie, much like he’d done after finishing the other seasons of the Starz crime drama. “I was trying to do as many movies as I could during the summer break so I wasn’t forever handcuffed to [my character] Ghost,” he says. “Because I’m an actor; I’m not one character.”
Photo by Jamie Bruce
But then he made a different choice. Musically inclined since he was a youngster, Hardwick decided to go into the studio and work on some music instead. “I just felt so at home there,” he recalls. The industry has been impressed by his efforts: His album, Concrete & Whiskey Act II Part 1: A Bourbon 30 Series, was nominated for a 2025 Grammy in the category of Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. “I just laughed and cried when I found out I was nominated,” he says. “It was so beautiful.”
Photo courtesy of Paramount Corporation
Star Trek: Section 31 recently debuted on Paramount+. While Hardwick didn’t grow up a Trekkie, his older brother was always watching the show and movies. “I knew enough to be able to pay a level of deference to the franchise,” he says. “Especially when Michelle Yeoh, Alex Kurtzman, and Olatunde Osunsanmi asked me to come play. I knew I had to do it.”
What stands out to Hardwick about Section 31 is that it’s full of new Star Trek characters that are “emblematic of those from yesteryear.” This time around, they work for a secret division of Starfleet. “It’s a bit Guardians of the Galaxy and Mission: Impossible, but it still fits in with what Gene Roddenberry created,” he says. “The manner in which we go about maintaining order in space is quite different and fun.”
As Hardwick’s career reaches new heights, returning to Atlanta several times a year keeps his feet firmly on the ground. When he’s there to visit his little sister and older brother, he’ll take in a Braves, Falcons, or Hawks game, or go to a concert at the Fox.
Hardwick’s connection to Atlanta is so deep that his aim moving forward is to make an impact in the areas where he grew up. “I want to dig my heels in and help the community that raised me in Decatur, Stone Mountain, and the places in between,” he says. “I want to make more of a presence in Atlanta. This is the season of my life where I need to do that.”
