Whether on Broadway, The West End, or lighting up our screens, Patina Miller puts everything that she has into bringing her exciting characters to life. But as the final season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan is now upon us, Miller will be calling time on her critically acclaimed portrayal of Raquel Thomas. To find out more about the motivations behind the role of “Raq,” M&F HERS sat down with the star and soon learned that fitness, and particularly marathon running, is essential for those scene stealing moments.
“I’ve always been very structured with working out,” explains Miller. “Fitness has been a really big part of my life, for most of my career. And I think the structure of working out and being diligent with a fitness schedule and really wanting that is just something that’s been ingrained in me.”
Raq is in many ways the opposite to Patina Miller, often causing harm to others in her reckless pursuit of power on the show. But the character also has innate strength, and this is where they find common ground. “Obviously, I wanted her to be strong,” shares Miller of crafting Raq’s aura. “She doesn’t necessarily have to be a bodybuilder, but there’s a strength to her. I do think that my fitness background has helped me to tell that story; the way that I’m able to shift and change my body in the different episodes. How I approach getting fit for a role. Fitness is at the center of a lot of the things that I do and so it has played a big role in creating this iconic character.”
How Patina Miller Built the Strength Behind ‘Raising Kanan’s’ Raq Thomas
One of Miller’s early methods for staying fit was to pick up the jump rope. “It’s one of the only exercises that really targets everything at the same time,” she told Vogue back in 2011, explaining why skipping had become a big part of the prep for her role as Commander Paylor in the Hunger Games: Mocking Jay movies.
Jump rope sessions are a great form of cardio and provide an effective full body workout, torching around 100 calories per ten minutes, depending on intensity. It’s also a convenient form of working out, and that is essential for an actor like Miller, who won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical while playing the lead in Pippin.
How Marathon Training Helps Patina Miller Improve Performance and Endurance
A keen running enthusiast, this able actor took on the ultimate challenge when she sang the U.S. National Anthem just moments before racing the 2023 New York City Marathon. “What a terrible thing to do,” jokes Miller. “It took me until mile six to calm myself down!”
Not only did Miller complete that marathon, but she continues to shave time off her personal best, finishing the same course in 3:52.44, in 2025. “I think that what I love about a marathon is that it calls on those same sets of things that I need when I take on a role, right?” reflects the star. “It’s like, ‘How do I want to do this?’, ‘What’s the end goal?’ And when I create a character, I ask those same questions. It’s about the rehearsal. It’s about gathering the information on the character to perform on the day. There’s a prep that goes into performing, and there’s a prep that goes into running. So, I love the journeys.”
There’s no doubting that fitness continues to inform Patina Miller’s Performances. “The stamina that it takes to do a two hour show nonstop, or the stamina that it takes to shoot a scene during a 13-or-14 hour day… that takes work,” explains the star. “But because I have the stamina from my training, I’m able to utilize that stamina in my profession.”
