Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumnus Joseph Sikora ’98, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, stars in Season 2 of the TV series Power Book IV: Force, beginning Friday, September 1, at 8 PM Eastern Time (7 PM Central Time) on the premium cable outlet Starz. Sikora plays drug dealer Tommy Egan in the gritty drama, a spinoff of Sikora’s previous hit Starz series Power.

As previously reported in this blog, the new series was filmed partly in Sikora’s home town of Chicago. In an August 23 profile in the Chicago Tribune by veteran arts journalist (and former Columbia College teacher) Rick Kogan, Sikora was quoted as saying: “Parts like this just don’t come around often, if ever. The first time I read the script I really, really wanted it. I knew I could murder this role.” Here’s the trailer for the upcoming second season of Power Book IV: Force.

As previously reported in this blog, Sikora (who now lives in New York City) took time off from his Chicago shooting schedule last year to visit his alma mater, Columbia College Chicago, for a “fireside chat” with students in the Sheldon Patinkin Theatre of the Getz Theatre Center of Columbia College. The event was a joint presentation of the Theatre Department and the Columbia College Alumni Network.

Video excerpts of Sikora’s conversation with Theatre Department faculty member Susan Padveen have been posted on the college’s website along with a report on the event. To read the report, click here.

As an actor, Sikora is equally at home on the stage and in front of the camera. As previously reported in this blog, his acting career began when he was a child in Chicago and played the title role in Touchstone Theatre’s production of The Little Prince. As an adult, he has appeared on Chicago stages in productions at Goodman, Lookingglass, Chicago Shakespeare, and Shattered Globe theatres. He was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago’s top theatre award) for Actor in a Principal Role for his performance in Shattered Globe’s 1999 production Frozen Assets. He also costarred with fellow Chicago actor David Schwimmer in a 2006 Broadway production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.

Besides the Power franchise, his TV credits include Boardwalk Empire, Ozark, Law & Order: SVU, Chicago P.D., The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy, and Monk. His big-screen credits include roles in Rudy, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Charlie Wilson’s War, Shutter Island, Jack Reacher, and Jacob’s Ladder.